


The New Demigod

by Laina0915



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Nico di Angelo, F/M, Multi, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, Not bothered to tag all gods, nico di angelo is bisexual
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-04-13 14:54:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14114778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laina0915/pseuds/Laina0915
Summary: (Set after the war with Gaea)There's a new demigod in town.Daughter of seas, legacy of ice and snow.Her life is not considered peaceful at all, even by demigod standards.





	1. What could possibly go wrong?

**Mira’s POV**

* * *

“Say hello to your new classmate!” Mrs. Moore said.

A boy came in, dressed in black sneakers, black pants, a black t-shirt with a skull, and a black leather jacket. He had unbelievably pale skin, like he hadn’t seen the sun in years. There were bags underneath his dark eyes, which his dark hair covered. He looked slightly up, and lifted his hand up in a meek attempt at a hello.

“Go on, tell the class who you are.” Mrs. Moore said.

“Hi. I’m Nico di Angelo.” The boy mumbled. I heard some girls gasp. I looked at them, and nearly rolled my eyes. Of course, the school bitch, Jasmine, had made the new boy her prey.

“Ok Nico, go take a seat next to Mirabelle over there.”

She pointed at me.

“Mirabelle, please raise your hand.”

I raised my hand, and the boy walked over, and sat down in the seat next to me. He doesn’t seem to be in a great mood. Well, too bad. He’s sitting here for the rest of the year. One bad thing, our tables are conjoined so they can fit two people. I looked at him. His hands were in his pockets now, and his head was down, as if he was thinking about something really important.

What should I do? Should I say hello? Ah whatever, screw it.

I extended my hand and said, “Hi, name’s Mirabelle.” He turned and looked at me, and I saw his eyes widen a little.

What? Was there something on my face? Was my hair messed up?

I was a little self conscious when it came to looks. Don’t know why. But I never cake make-up on my face, like that bitch Jasmine does.

“Nico, but you probably know.” he grumbled, looking mysteriously at my hand.

I furrowed my brows together, and cocked my head to the side.

“Don’t like physical contact.” He said.

“Oh.” I replied, before taking my hand back. I brushed my hair back, and said, “So… what lessons do you have?”

He looked at me again, before sighing and said, “Geography, Maths, English, and Astronomy.”

“Cool! You have the same lessons as me.” I said.

His head immediately jerked up at that, and said, “Seriously?”

“Uh, yeah. Is there a problem?” I asked, my head cocking to the other side. To be honest, I wasn’t the smartest of the bunch. I tend to react a few paces late.

Just as I was about to ask him another question, the bell rang, and I picked up my bag and went to my first lesson, Geography.

 

**Nico’s POV**

* * *

I _really_ hope Grover’s instinct is correct.

Otherwise I need to spend 3 months in a wretched school.

The only reason he got me to go to school was because he told me he found the lead of two demigods, but they studied in different schools, and he needed someone else to keep an eye on the other demigod.

When I told him to take someone else, he said he already did and that they were busy.

I really didn’t know how or why I agreed to join him.

I wasn’t really paying much attention this morning, until the girl next to me introduced herself. When I looked at her, I was in shock.

Her eyes were a shade of aqua, she had snow white skin, and her hair was blond. Aqua eyes… Could she be a child of Poseidon?

When she noticed I was staring at her hand, her head cocked to a side. Kinda like Percy when he gets confused.

I quickly replied with “Don’t like physical contact.” and left it at that.

Later, she told me she had the exact same classes as I did, and I sort of freaked out. What?! If she really is a child of Poseidon, then the last thing she needs is a child of Hades following her around.

We would be the biggest monster bait to ever exist.

So I replied with “Seriously?”

Guess she didn’t seem to think the same way I did, and I sensed a little bit of disgust in her tone when she replied.

But it was kind of innocent in some way as well, the same way Percy did when he wasn’t trying to act rude but turned out he was.

After a few seconds, the bell rang, and I saw her get up, grab her bag, and head out the room, like the rest of the class.

I grabbed mine and quickly followed her.

For now, I was marking her as a child of Poseidon.

And if the others ask why, I’m just going to say it’s because of her aqua eyes.


	2. So... Friends?

**Nico’s POV**

* * *

 

I walked out to the corridor, and saw her braided blond hair fly into a classroom that was not too far away.

I walked into the classroom, and found her sitting alone.

Seems like she wasn’t the most popular kid at school.

I looked and saw a brunette walk up to her and “accidentally” shove into her, causing some books to fall on her head.

“Ow!” Mirabelle said, looking up accusingly while rubbing her head.

The girl sneered and Mira replied with a look that was deadly enough to kill someone. I walked up to them, and the brunette jerked her head up and looked at me, smiled in a sickly sweet way, and said, “Hey.” while waving slightly, and walked, no, _flounced_ away to join her friends at another table.

I ignored her, sat down next to Mira and asked, “You alright?”

Her arms were crossed at her chest now, clearly pissed. “Yeah.” She replied dully.

I like her personality.

“Who’s that? Why does she stare at me and then look away and giggle?” I asked curiously, as I looked at the brunette, who was now giggling like a child.

“Her name’s Jasmine Collens. The school bitch.” She huffed. “And I think she’s labeled you as ‘prey’ in her list.” She made air quotation marks in the air, and Hazel called them air bunnies.

“Prey?” I asked. She sighed, like it was supposed to be the most obvious thing in the world. “She wants you to be her boyfriend, dummy.”

I pulled back and slightly made a face, and she must’ve seen it at the corner of her eye, cause she snickered a little. “Disgusting.” I said, as the teacher walked in.

Ironically, the teacher was called Mr. Maps, and I tried my best not to chuckle as he introduced himself.

“I hate his lessons.” Mira whispered next to me. “Why?” I asked. “He literally talks people to sleep.” She replied. “So if I fall asleep mid-lesson and you manage to stay awake, help me copy some notes please.” She asked, as she slouched in her chair and pulled the hood of her icy blue hoodie up.

‘It can’t be _that_ bad, can it?’ I thought to myself.

Turns out it _was **that**_ bad. I swear I fell asleep three times.

Maths then came and went. We still sat next to each other. I didn’t quite get the concept of letters in equations, but luckily, Mira came to my aid and explained the confusing concept to me.

I really didn’t understand why letters had to be added into maths. It was confusing on its own already.

Then lunch came. I thought she would sit with her friends, but no. She sat at a table all by herself.

I took my tray and walked up to her, and asked, “Is this seat taken?”

She looked up, and shook her head.

I sat down, and she asked, “Don’t you get tired of being with only one person for the entire day?” I started poking at the food with my fork and replied, “Don’t you have any friends to be with?”

I noticed her mood got _way_ darker at that.

“No. I don’t have any friends here.”

“Neither do I.” I replied. “So… Wanna be friends?”

It felt weird asking that questions. _Really_ weird.

Is that how you make friends? I don’t know. At least I could keep a closer eye on her now, without acting like a creep.

She looked up, a little confused.

“Friends?” she asked me.

“Uh well… Yeah. But it’s up to you. I’m cool with whatever decision you make.” I shrugged.

She looked back down, and said, “Good to have someone to talk to.”

So… are we friends now? Guess so.

“Do you have a last name?” I asked. “You and the teacher never mentioned it.” Wasn’t it normal for people to introduce themselves via full names? As in first name last name?

Her mood became dark again.

Uh oh. Did I say something wrong?

“No. I live an orphanage. I don’t know my parents; I only remember one little snippet of my childhood. I’m not sure about it though. I just remember a woman, might be my mother, holding a boy’s hand, leaving the orphanage. I think the boy was 3… he could walk on his own. I was a few months old at the time.”

She took another bite out of her sandwich.

“I never got to know or meet my parents. Neither do I know why I sent there.”

I could see she was on the verge of tears. It must’ve hurt her, a lot.

I gave her a piece of tissue, which she took, wiped her tears and blew her nose with.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but considering you’re the only person who’s been able to stand me for more than an hour, I guess you’re my friend now.”

Stay close to demigod, check.

“You’ve been through a lot, considering your young age.” I replied.

Sure, I’ve been through a lot too, but it wouldn’t be a good time to bring _her_ up now.

She laughed a bit and said, “Yeah, sure, _old man_.”

“When where you born?” I asked her. I’m pretty sure I’m older than everyone, even by month and date.

“December 15th.” She said.

“January 28th, _little girl_.” I said with a smirk.

She smiled and playfully shoved my arm, before she took her hand back and said, “Sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” I asked.

“I thought you didn’t like physical contact…” she mumbled.

“Nah, it’s alright. Just don’t hug me or do anything like that and you’re fine.” I explained.

“Oh.” She said. “Does that mean I can punch you on the arm?” Oh… so like Percy.

No one could ask such innocent questions without noticing it at such an age.

The rest of the day went past like a blitz, and as soon as I got back to the little shack me and Grover called home, he was there already, devouring aluminum cans.

“Meet your demigod?” he asked, while chewing loudly.

“Yes, and if you don’t keep quiet, I’ll have you pinned up to a wall.” I replied in monotone.

Grover gulped, and complained. “Aw man! But you know how noisy these cans can be! And I’m hungry! They don’t serve anything good in the school cafeteria!”

“I don’t care.” I replied as I began to IM the others.

“Hey!” Percy’s face came up in the mist, and was soon joined by Annabeth’s, Piper’s, Calypso’s, Hazel’s, Frank’s, Jason’s, and Leo’s.

“How was school?” Annabeth asked.

“Horrible.” “Awesome.” We said in unison.

“Well, did you guys meet the demigods?” Calypso asked.

“Yeah. Met mine. Probably a son of Athena.” Grover said.

“How can you tell?” Piper asked.

“Storm grey eyes? And the fact that he gets so bored he reads the _dictionary_ probably helps. And also he’s super smart.” Grover replied.

“You?” Jason asked, nodding his head in my direction.

“Well, it’s a girl.” I replied, causing Hazel to squeal. She’s _dying_ for me to date someone else.

So desperate she and Piper set me up for multiple blind dates.

All of which failed. Miserably.

I glared at Hazel before continuing, “ _and_ I suspect she’s a child of Poseidon.”

At that, Grover dropped his can and stared at me, jaw dropped.

Then came the sound of something crashing.

Probably just Percy falling off a chair.

“A WHAT?!” Percy shouted, still recovering from falling off a chair. Yep, called it.

“Gods…you’re so loud. And yes, a child of Poseidon. But I’m not sure. We’ll have to wait for her to get claimed.”

“But won’t it be dangerous if the two of you are…” Frank started.

“Yes. That’s why I’ll try my best to _not_ get killed.”

“Well… take care, both of you.” Annabeth said. “You should probably get some rest, you still have school tomorrow.”

I groaned, but Grover perked up a little.

“All right Annie. See you some time later!” Grover said, and waved his hand through the mist.

I trudged back into my room, and laid on the bed, but I couldn’t keep my head off this particular _girl_ …

**Mira’s POV**

* * *

 

I asked Nico to help me copy some notes from Geography, but I guess he fell asleep too.

How did I know? Probably the sound of his head hitting the desk was a good enough hint.

After Geography came Maths. We sat next to each other again.

I was slightly amused at the fact that he chose to sit beside me and not at other desks that were empty.

Maths was difficult for me, as I have dyslexia. The numbers and letters keep flying off the page, and people think I’m crazy because I tried to capture a flying ‘x’.

I thought Nico would be some sort of math whiz, he seemed like that kind of person.

Turns out I was wrong.

He was even more terrible at maths than I was.

I had to explain the Pythagoras theorem to him _at least_ 3 times before he began to understand the concept.

Also, he keeps complaining about letters being involved in the equation.

Before I was done explain what ‘pi’ was, the lunch bell rang. I concluded our little ‘teaching session’ with, “Yeah, lunch time. Screw maths.”

Then, I shoved everything back into my bag and walked towards the cafeteria.

I sat at my usual table, which was located in a far-off corner. No one ever comes there.

Unless it’s the Bitch Squad coming over and bullying me.

I took my lunch box out from my bag, and opened it. A Nutella sandwich.

I started chewing on it, when I heard a voice say, “Is this seat taken?”

I looked up, and saw Nico.

Why is he still sticking with me and not making friends?

But the seat wasn’t taken, so I shook my head. He put his tray on the table, and I couldn’t help but ask him, “Don’t you get tired of being with only one person for the entire day?”

He was poking his food with a fork. It doesn’t seem edible at all, let alone appetizing.

Instead of an answer, he replied with, “Don’t you have any friends to be with?”

I narrowed my eyes, and my mouth turned into a frown.

I _hated_ it when people asked me that.

So I replied with, “No. I don’t have any friends here.” And let my head fall back down.

Usually people would just drop the topic and talk about something else, or simply sit in silence awkwardly until they leave. But instead of dropping it, Nico said that _he_ didn’t have any friends either.

Well of course! You’re new!

Then he proposed that we become friends.

At that, my head jerked up and I looked at him, confused.

Being friends with someone was not something I got to experience. Mainly because I acted ‘weird’ and that the Bitch Squad would scare off people trying to befriend me.

Just because my backstory is different from theirs doesn’t mean they can judge me.

So, through the debris of Nutella sandwich in my mouth, I managed to choke out “Friends?”

He then said that he would be fine with whatever decision I made. Good to have someone to talk to. My mood lifted just a little.

Then he asked me if I had a last name, and my mood fell again. I didn’t know what possessed me to do it, but I did it anyways.

I told him the sob story of me being dropped off at an orphanage, and started tearing up a little. He handed me a piece of tissue, which I used to wipe my tears and blow my nose.

When he replied, I knew it was out of sympathy. No one could understand what it felt like. But he sounded a lot like an old man when he replied, so I couldn’t help but tease him a little, by saying _old man_.

He asked me when my birthday is, and I told him that it was on December 15th.

My birthday, my name, and a silver pen which I never used was the only thing left by my parents.

He told me his birthday was on January 28th, and added ‘little girl’ at the end.

I am _not_ a little girl! I am a mature 14-year-old girl!

But I could clearly tell that he was teasing. So I smiled and punched his arm lightly, before taking it back almost instantly.

I _totally_ forgot that he didn’t like physical contact.

Well, there goes the only friend I’ve ever made in my life.

I said sorry, and it turns out he just doesn’t like hugs. But still, I feel like I should still ask for permission to punch his arm. Once I asked, I think I saw amusement twinkle in his dark eyes.

Oh, why are they so _captivating_?!

The rest of the day flew past, and the next thing I knew, I was walking along the streets, heading back to the orphanage. Then, an annoyingly pink car slowed down next to me.

Why does it have to be _pink_ , of all colours?! I mean, blue is a good choice, and not to mention it’s also my favourite colour.

I looked towards the car, and groaned quietly.

When will they ever _leave me alone_?!

Jasmine was, of course, at the wheel, and said, “Oh, looks like someone’s going back home to mommy and daddy. Oh wait, whoops, my bad, I forgot. You don’t have any of that!” When she finished, she and her entire squad burst out laughing, and drove away. Of course, there was some gas that was emitted out from the car, and I coughed and waved my hand in front of my face.

Begrudgingly, I dragged myself back to the orphanage, went into my room, grabbed my sleep-wear and underwear before walking towards the only shower room on my floor. I shower quite early, so I don’t have to wait for half an hour before I can get to shower, and I’ve heard multiple people complain about it.

As soon as I got out of the shower, I went back into my room.

I was wearing a loose t-shirt and a pair of loose pants.

Once I got back in my room, I threw away the towel that was resting on my shoulder, and let my damp hair hit my back.

Then, the dinner bell rang, and I went down to the mess hall, like all the others.

I also don’t have a lot of friends at the orphanage.

After dinner, I went back into my room, and laid on my bed.

I turned the lights off, and tried to sleep.

But a _very_ particular guy keeps on popping up in my head…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM-Iris Message


	3. 3 months later

**Mira’s POV**

* * *

 

Well, today was awesome.

Jasmine and her squad suddenly decided to pull me in an empty classroom and ‘interrogate’ me, and told me to ‘stay the fuck away from Nico’.

At that moment, Nico came running in, panting, and looked kinda horrified at what he saw.

We’ve become quite close since last year, and he’s kind of my brother.

Not to mention that I’ve had a crush on him since we first met, but whatever.

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out, and told me to tell him if they do something similar again.

He’s  _soooooo_ overprotective. 

Tonight, I invited him to come to my orphanage, so we could do our project for a subject I forgot.

But we’re probably going to end up playing stupid games anyways.

After school, I waited at the front gate for him. I waited for at least 10 minutes until I saw him exit the school.

I bounced up to him, and asked, “What took you so long?”

He huffed, and said, “Cheerleaders.”

I knew what he was talking about.

Jasmine and her squad was referred to ‘Cheerleaders’ by me and Nico, because

1\. They’re on the cheerleading team, and 2. There’s no argument two that.

Aside from that, they also have layers and layers of makeup caked up on their face.

“Come on!” I laughed, and grabbed his wrist. He smiled slightly, and allowed me to drag him along the streets.

The most I’ve ever seen him show signs of joy is smiling slightly.

I lead him over to my orphanage, and surprisingly, the annoying pink car didn’t show up.

Finally! They _finally_ decided to leave me alone!

As soon as we got to the orphanage, I ran to my room straight away, leaving him behind.

But I know he’ll follow.

Something just tells me that.

**Nico’s POV**

* * *

 

Well, today was horrible.

After I ‘saved’ Mira from the Cheerleaders, I went to the only class that we had separated from each other.

I had Foreign Language while she had Swimming.

In Foreign Language, we were learning Italian, and the teacher _keeps_ on picking on me as I’m the only person who can speak fluently in Italian.

Why? Cause I’m Italian, duh.

She had kindly asked me to join her in swimming, but I rejected her offer.

Didn’t want to see what kind of torture Poseidon would unleash if I ever decided to swim.

Compared to Grover, I think I’m doing a pretty decent job at getting close to the demigod.

His demigod kept ignoring him, and thought he was some annoying crippled brat.

Mira invited me to go to her orphanage tonight, so we could work on our project.

But we’re more or less likely going to spend the night playing games or something stupid.

When the end of school bell rang, I was going to the front gate, when I heard someone, or _something_ , speak in Ancient Greek.

I turned my head towards the direction of the sound, and found that it came from the same empty classroom as the one Mira had been pulled into just this morning.

I have a _really_ bad feeling about this.

I walked towards the empty classroom, and found the ‘Cheerleaders’ there.

But instead of their usual look, they looked… rather… different…

And then, and only _then_ , did I see that one of their legs were a _donkey’s,_ and that the other one was made out of Celestial Bronze. Their eyes were glowing red, they now had _white_ skin, and it looked like they’ve went to Tartarus and back.

‘Empousai.’ I thought.

All of them then turned to look at me, and ‘Jasmine’, or should I say, _Kelly_ , spoke, “Son of Hades…We’ve been waiting for you…”

I threw down my school bag, reached into the shadows and grabbed my Stygian iron sword. It took me about 10 minutes and a torn up classroom to defeat 3 empousai.

When the last of them turned into monster dust, I was panting. Heavily.

I was about to shadow travel back to the little shack, but then remembered that Mira was still waiting for me at the front gate.

Hopefully she isn’t getting impatient and looking for me around the school, because like all demigods, she had ADHD and dyslexia.

Last thing I need now is to let her see me with a sword.

And you _do not_ want a demigod who doesn’t know their identity seeing another one covered in monster dust and holding a sword.

By human instincts, she would probably scream and run away, most likely to call the cops on me.

Or she could just stand there and stare at me in horror.

Or maybe scream bloody murder.

I sheathed my sword, picked my bag up, slung it over my shoulder, went out the door, and walked to the front gate.

There, I found her impatiently rocking herself back and forth on her feet.

Her aqua eyes seemed to glow in the sunlight, and her braided blond hair which was now hanging on her right shoulder reminded me of someone.

Someone I loved.

Someone I lost.  

Once she saw me, her face lit up.

She was the only person to make me smile since… never mind.

When she asked me what took me so long, I truthfully replied with, “Cheerleaders.”

She laughed, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me towards her orphanage.

Once we got there, she ran up into her room, and I followed.

When I opened the door, she was throwing things around. More specifically, into a closet. But was missing miserably.

“What are you…” I was cut off mid-sentence by a hoodie hitting my face.

“Whoops, sorry.” She smiled sheepishly and picked the hoodie off from my hands.

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

“Cleaning the room up a bit. I wasn’t expecting guests so it’s a bit messy.”

“Seems alright to me.”

“Whatever.” She said, rolling her eyes.

After a while, all the clothes lying on the floor had been thrown into her closet, and she picked up a bar of something from the cabinet and started chewing on it.

I sat down on her bed as she offered me one.

“What’s this?” I asked, taking it.

“Protein bar.” She replied, with some in her mouth.

I opened it up and took a bite, and nearly spit it back out.

It tastes worse than Piper’s cooking. _Don’t_ tell her I said that. She will _kill_ me.

“It’s horrible.” I concluded.

“Well, the healthier the food, the worse it tastes.” She said, and took another bite from her bar.

I rolled my eyes, and she laughed.


	4. The attack

**Mira’s POV**

* * *

 

The night passed by in a flash. As I expected, we ended up playing 20 questions.

Well, more like a million questions.

I didn’t know he had a sister, and that he was Italian.

But what surprisingly happened was that I got him to laugh! Like an actual, whole-hearted laugh!

When he laughed, it was like the ground shook with it. His laughter sounded good.

I like it. A lot.

It was now his turn to ask me a question. But we’ve ran out of questions a long time ago. We both know better than to step into our past, as I don’t feel comfortable talking about it, and surprisingly enough, he feels the same way too.

“Go on, your turn.” I told him. We were sitting on the floor, he scratched his head, and asked, “Do you have a crush?”

He looked… embarrassed?

But still, he can’t know! He can’t know that I have a crush on _him_. Well, at least he’s not asking who I _like_ , cause that would be worse.

So I chuckled and said, “Really? Are you _that_ out of questions?”

He smirked and said, “Yeah.”

“Yes” I whispered softly, so soft that I thought he wouldn’t be able to hear it.

Suddenly, someone knocked on my door. I stood up and opened the door, to find the orphanage manager, Ms. Carrie, standing outside.

“Oh hello, Ms. Carrie.” I said.

“Hello, Mirabelle. May I come in?” she asked.

“Um… Well… I invited someone over, so…” I stuttered.

“Oh, it’s alright. I just wanted to have a talk.”

So, I stepped aside, and let her walk into my room. I closed the door and looked at Nico. He didn’t seem too fond of the manager walking in, and he stood up from the floor.

“You must be the person Mirabelle invited. Ms. Carrie’s the name. What’s yours?” she asked, while sticking her hand out. Nico looked at her hand, but he didn’t shake it.

“Uh, sorry.” I apologized, standing beside Nico. “He’s not too fond with physical contact.”

Ms. Carrie’s mouth shifted to an ‘O’, and she asked, “What’s his name, then?” I replied, “Nico di Angelo.”

After I replied, I noticed that Ms. Carrie’s eyes flashed with joy? Amusement? Relief? I don’t know.

Then, she walked back up to the door, and locked it.

“Uh, Ms. Carrie? Aren’t the doors supposed to be _unlocked_?” I asked.

This was a rule in the orphanage. If anyone locks the door, they won’t have dessert for a week. And _no one_ wants to skip dessert.

“Yes, but it’s _me_ that’s locking the door, darling.”

I started to panic a little. What is going on?! Then, Ms. Carrie walked over to me, yanked me by the collar, and hissed, “Where is it?”

I was absolutely confused. And terrified.

“Where is what?!” I panicked.

“The helm, where is it?” Then she exploded into a million pieces, and from that, emerged a bald lady with wings.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!” I screamed, and looked at Nico.

Now, I expected him to be screaming as well, but instead of that, he was perfectly calm, and ordered, “Get behind me, now.”

I wanted to scream at him, to tell him to open the window and get the hell out. But another scream from flying bald lady sent me scampering behind Nico.

“They won’t hurt me, it’s fine, Mira.”

“H…How?” I asked. I was practically clinging onto his back now, and using him as a human shield.

“Furies. They’re under Hades control.”

“W…What?” I whisper-asked.

Flying bald lady then crawled closer. Nico spread his arms open, as if trying to protect me. After all, I _was_ hiding behind him.

“Why are you here, Alecto.” He asked.

She hissed, “The helm of darkness is missing, and the girl stole it.” Then she lunged towards me, causing me to scream and sort of throw Nico at the thing.

He staggered a little, before turning to me and tried to reassure me by saying, “Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

“HOW IS IT FINE?! THERE’S A FLYING BALD LADY THAT WAS ONCE THE MANAGER, AND NOW IT’S TRYING TO KILL ME! HOW IS THAT CONSIDERED _FINE_?!” I screamed.

He looked at me in pity, turned to the lady, and said, “Alecto, leave. Now.”

He said it in a commanding tone, one I’ve never heard him speak in.

“Not until the girl is _dead_!” she screamed, and starting running towards us. Then, she lunged again, and Nico, out of _nowhere_ , pulled out a black sword and stabbed her in the chest. Flying bald lady looked at him, gagged, and crumpled into dust.

“Where did you get that?” I asked in a soft tone, feeling even more terrified.

Ok, let’s go through what happened today. I invited my best friend/crush over for a project, the manager turns out to be a flying bald lady, and now my best friend/crush has a sword.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

He sheathed the sword, and grabbed me by the shoulders. This was one of the times I wished I was taller than him. When standing straight, my head only came up to his chin.

Yeah, I’m pretty short.

I stared at him in pure horror, as he began to explain. He told me that I was a demigod, and that there was a place which was safe for half-bloods to live in.

“Whoa. Then the helm of darkness flying bald lady was just talking about is Hades helm of darkness? As in _the Hades_? The god of the Underworld.” I asked.

“Yeah. My dad. And it’s _Fury_ , not _flying bald lady_.” Nico said.

“Wait. You’re a child of Hades?!” I said, in surprise.

I didn’t care less about what they were called. Flying bald ladies are what they’ll be called from now on.

“Yeah.”

“Cool… Do you know who’s my mom or dad then?” I asked.

“No… you’ll have to get claimed by the god or goddess to know who your godly parent is. But until then, you’ll have to spend your days in the Hermes cabin.”

“How long is it until I get claimed?”

“Dunno. Depends on whether the gods want to claim you. But most likely on your birthday.”

“Cool, cause it’s coming up.”

“How could I _possibly_ forget.” Nico replied in a sarcastic tone, while rolling his eyes.

“Now, we have to get out of here. If my father sent the Furies after you and they found you, you’re not safe. We have to get to Camp Half-Blood.”

“Ok… can I bring stuff in?” I asked.

“Sure, if you want.” Nico said.

I grabbed my favourite blue backpack, and started putting stuff in it. I didn’t own much, so it was easy to decide what to bring. I decided to bring another set of cloths, only these were ice blue. The set I wearing now was navy blue. I’m talking navy blue boots, denim jeans, navy blue t-shirt and hoodie. The ice blue set had the same cloths, only a different colour.

Then, I opened a drawer, and held my silver pen.

“Where did you get that?” Nico asked.

“My parents left this for me.” I explained.

He looked at it, and arched his eyebrow, looking skeptical. I ignored him, put the pen in my pocket, and signaled that I was ready to leave.

“Ok, let’s go.” Nico said. “What’s your opinion on shadow-travelling?”

“Shadow-what?!”

“Shadow-travelling. It’s one of the things which I can do.”

“Um ok… I guess…” I stammered.

“Ok, good. Hold onto my arm.” He said. “I don’t have enough energy to carry the both of us into camp, but I can carry us to the mountain right outside of camp. There, we only need to walk down and cross the forest, and we’ll be there.”

“Ok…” I replied, and grabbed onto his arm. He wrapped his other arm around me, and the next thing I knew, I was being pulled into the shadows. It felt uncomfortable, like all your organs are being twisted multiple times.

When we emerged, I stumbled forwards, and would’ve fallen off the mountain if Nico didn’t catch me in time.

“Whoa, you alright?” he asked.

I clutched my stomach, and managed a weak “I’m good.”

He threw my arm over his shoulder, and put his arm around my waist.

My cheeks went bright red that moment.

Thank god it was dark; he wouldn’t be able to see me blush.

And just like that, we began to walk down the hill.

When we reached the forest, we heard a roar.

I turned around, and saw a man, no a bull, no a… bull-man(?) running towards us. The thing was half bull, half man.

Nico immediately dropped his arm and shouted “RUN!”

And so, we ran.

I followed him until I saw an archway, lit up by torches. And on the archway, were three words. Camp Half-Blood.

I sighed in relief.

We’re finally there!

Just as I was about to cheer, Bull-man rammed Nico in the back, causing him to crash into a tree trunk.

“NICO!” I shouted.

I ran over to him.

He wasn’t in a good condition.

He was spilling blood from his mouth, and coughing uncontrollably.

He also looked like he was only half-conscious.

The bull-man was approaching.

“Nico, Nico, please, _please_ , wake up.” I shook him.

I turned around.

Bull-man was getting closer and closer to us.

Nico then touched my wrist, and I looked at him, just to hear him whisper, “The pen, uncap it…”

I was confused.

“It’s a _pen_ , Nico, it’s not going to help!”

“Yes it will. Just listen to me.” He said, and coughed some more.

“If you weren’t half dead now I probably would’ve slapped you _really_ hard.” I grumbled.

I grabbed the pen out from my pocket, and uncapped it.

I expected it to revel a normal ballpoint pen, but instead, it changed into a silver sword.

I nearly dropped it.

“WHOA!” I shouted. I held it in both hands, and Bull-man charged towards me.

I didn’t know what overcame me then.

I side-stepped the attack, and slashed him on the side.

There was a gash on his waist, but I also noticed that there was ice freezing the wound, so that blood would not spill out.

I decided not to question things anymore.

Bull-man roared, and charged.

I noticed that there was a crowd gathering in the gate way.

I swung my sword, and nicked Bull-man’s cheek a little.

He fell to the ground, clutching his cheek.

I looked at Nico, and saw him getting up.

I started walking towards him, but didn’t get too far, as Bull-man came crashing into my side. My back landed against a tree trunk with a loud ‘Thunk!’

Nico unsheathed his sword, and charged towards the beast.

He was doing good, until Bull-man disarmed him and held him in his hand, and started closing his fist.

‘He’s going to crush Nico.’ I realized.

With a sudden burst of energy, I grabbed my sword, yelled, and ran towards Bull-man, plunging it deep inside his torso, before slicing it upwards along his sternum.

It released Nico with a roar of pain, and I drove my sword into its head, and it crumpled into dust.

I pulled my sword back up, and stood. The world was spinning now.

I turned and looked at the camp, and saw that people were standing there, not moving.

I then looked at Nico, but he wasn’t moving.

Was he dead?

I took a step towards him, and collapsed onto the floor, my world going black.

**Nico’s POV**

* * *

 

“Do you have a crush?” I asked Mira.

I _really_ didn’t know what to ask her. Should I have asked her who she likes? That would probably embarrass her further.

I heard her whisper “Yes” and there was this pang in my heart. I don’t know what it is, but it kind of hurts, on the emotional level.

Then, there was someone knocking on the door.

A woman came in, and she introduced herself as Ms. Carrie, the orphanage manager, and stuck her hand forwards.

As usual, I stared at the hand, but something was wrong. I felt like I’ve met her before, but I’m not sure where…

Anyways, I should’ve told Mira not to tell other people my name, cause you don’t know if one of them is going to be a monster.

Mira blurted out my name before I could stop her, and I noticed Ms. Carrie’s eye flash.

Then, she walked up to the door and locked it.

Something was terribly wrong.

I wanted to pull out my sword, but if this Ms. Carrie is truly mortal, she won’t be able to see my sword, but Mira would be absolutely terrified.

So I allowed things to progress, and it took less than 3 seconds after the door-locking for me to realize that Ms. Carrie is the Fury Alecto.

She hissed at Mira about a helm, and I was confused.

A helm? Why would dad care? Unless it’s his helm of darkness?

I suddenly had a feeling of déjà vu.

Wasn’t this what Percy faced when he first realized he was a demigod?

Only that this time, it’s a helm instead of a maser bolt.

Mira screamed as soon as Alecto turned back into a Fury, and I told her hide behind me.

Furies, after all, are under Hades control, and so Alecto (maybe) won’t hurt me.

She was clinging onto my back like a koala, and I could feel her nails dig through my jacket and shirt.

I asked Alecto what she was doing here, and she told me the helm of darkness was missing.

Ok, so dad’s helm is missing, and Mira’s getting framed.

Sound familiar?

Alecto lunged at Mira, and she pushed me forwards. Alecto managed to stop in time before crashing into me.

I looked back at Mira.

She was now sitting on her desk, curled up.

I turned back to her and said, “Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

And she decided to yell what _isn’t_ fine back at me.

Gods, she even screams like Percy. Last thing I need is _two_ Percy’s. One is bad enough already.

Anyways, I could tell that she was as frightened as a wild rabbit, so I commanded Alecto to leave. Hopefully it would be enough, so I wouldn’t have to pull out my sword.

But, a Fury never stops until the target is dead, and so, Alecto screamed that she would kill Mira, and lunged. Her pupils were blown wide open, and her aqua eyes emitted fear.

So, I had no other choice than to pull out my sword, and plunge it straight in Alecto’s chest.

When she gagged, I almost wanted to scream, “THIS IS FOR TRAPPING ME AND MY SISTER IN THAT DAMNED CASINO FOR SEVENTY YEARS!” But that probably wouldn’t be wise, cause Mira would ask questions.

When Alecto disappeared into monster dust, I looked back at Mira.

She looked even more terrified now.

In a very soft tone, she asked me where I got the sword from.

She’s the only person I could tolerate for long periods of time, and also, my friend.

I rarely consider anyone my friend, but she’s special.

Really special.

I’m not exactly the best at expressing emotions, and I’m not sure if I did it correctly, but I grabbed her by the shoulders, and felt her muscles stiffen. Uh, whoops?

Then I started to explain to her about demigods, and Camp Half-Blood. She looked either amazed or confused when she asked me if the helm of darkness Alecto was talking about is Hades helm of darkness. I confirmed it, and told her that Hades is my dad.

I thought she would resent me, as all the other campers do. But instead, she looked surprised that I was a child of Hades. I mean, whose child did she _think_ I was, Apollo’s?

But then, she didn’t look scared or anything. She just said it was cool, and asked me if I knew who her parents were. I told her about the claiming stuff, and her mood faltered a little.

Seems like she _really_ wanted to find out who her parents were.

Then she asked me how long it is until she gets claimed, I replied with, “Dunno. Depends on whether the gods want to claim you. But most likely on your birthday.”

Her birthday was coming up, the 15th of December. It’s the end of November now, so her birthday is in about 2 weeks’ time.

I told her that she wasn’t safe if the Furies found her, and so I allowed her to pack for a while, and she really didn’t bring much. She only bought another set of clothes, and when she opened a drawer and took out a silver pen, I was in utter shock.

A silver pen… that looked _exactly_ like Riptide.

Now, I _really_ think that she is a child of Poseidon.

After that, she signaled that she was ready, and I asked her opinion on shadow-travelling. She said that it was ok, and I told her grab my arm. She did that, and I couldn’t resist putting my other arm around her waist as I plunged the both of us into darkness.

When we emerged, she stumbled over her own feet and nearly fell off the mountain. I asked her if she was alright, and when she said yes, I could tell that she was not. This was _not_ the worst reaction I’ve gotten from people shadow-travelling for the first time.

So, I threw her arm over my shoulder and put my arm on her waist, and pulled her in towards me. I saw her cheeks instantly flush red, but I knew she thought I wouldn’t be able to see it due to the lack of light, and it wouldn’t be wise to tell her that I had perfect vision in the dark.

We walked down the mountain, and trekked into the forest. We were in the forest for less than a minute, when we heard a roar. I turned around and saw a Minotaur running towards us.

Fear rushed over me, so I released my arm from her waist, and shouted “RUN!”

I stayed in front of her, and soon, we reached the gateway of Camp Half-Blood. I looked back and saw her face light up, and she shoulders sagged a little.

Relief, she was feeling relieved.

I could tell that she was ready to cheer, but then, something crashed into my back, I felt my side crash into something hard, and heard someone shout my name. I managed to roll sideways so my back was now leaned against the tree trunk. My vision went blurry that instant and my head was spinning. I felt like there was something in my chest, so I began coughing immediately.

Then, I felt someone shake me lightly, so I opened my eyes just a tiny bit, and I could make out the shape of Mira’s body in front of me. I heard her plead for me to wake up. I wanted to, but I couldn’t bring myself to stand up. I looked slightly to the side, and found the Minotaur approaching.

I had to do something, but what?

This was one of those rare moments I wished Annabeth was here. Cause she would know what to do, wouldn’t she?

My mind suddenly flashed to her pen that was currently in her pocket, and so I grabbed her wrist, and managed to whisper “The pen, uncap it…”

I could see that her head cocked to the side at that, a sign that she was confused.

A very Percy sign, to be honest. I wouldn’t be surprised if the two of them were related in some way.

I then hear her say, in her matter-of-fact voice, “It’s a _pen_ , Nico; it’s not going to help!”

Didn’t Percy say that too, when Grover told him to uncapped Riptide for the first time?

Anyways, if I wasn’t half-unconscious, I would’ve probably glared at her to let her know that I was serious.

So I retorted with, “Yes it will. Just listen to me.”

Just then, I felt something tickling my chest, and I coughed some more.

I heard her grumble, “If you weren’t half dead now I probably would’ve slapped you _really_ hard.” and I almost replied with, “I _dare_ you.”

She stood up, turned to face the Minotaur, took the pen out and uncapped it.

I saw it turn into a silver sword, and she nearly dropped it.

The Minotaur then started to run towards her, which she side-stepped gracefully, and turned around quick enough to give the Minotaur a gash on the waist.

A pretty deep one, might I say.

Then I noticed that blood wasn’t spilling out from the wound, and so I squinted my eyes and took a closer look at the wound.

That’s when I noticed that ice was freezing the wound.

Wait _what_? Ice? Children of Poseidon don’t have that power, do they? They could only control water, right?

Then, the Minotaur roared, and charged towards her.

I looked at the gates.

With all that roaring, someone’s bound to hear it in camp and come to the gates to check what was wrong, right?

I was right.

There was a small crowd gathering at the gates.

I couldn’t let them see that I was down.

I refused to let the Stoll’s laugh at my face about me ‘taking a nap’ while a _newbie_ went and took down the Minotaur.

So I tried my best to stand up, and another roar from the Minotaur suggested that Mira had given it another wound.

I was practically leaning against the tree trunk now, and looked up, to see that the Minotaur was regaining himself from the last wound she gave him, and that Mira was walking towards me.

I saw that the Minotaur began running towards her, and I tried to warn her, but I was too late.

The Minotaur rammed her in the side, and heard her hit a tree trunk with a deafening ‘Thunk!’

I felt a wave of anger rush past, I reached into the shadows, took my sword out, and charged towards the Minotaur.

I parried all his attacks, and managed to sneak a couple of wounds in.

Then, the Minotaur disarmed me by smashing his horn on the side of my wrist, held me in his hand, and started to squeeze.

I felt air leave my lungs, felt the bones in my body start to break, and started to squirm and kick, trying to get out of this horrible situation.

I saw Mira’s eye widen in fear, and suddenly, she ran towards the Minotaur while yelling, plunged her sword into his chest, and sliced it upwards along his sternum.

The Minotaur released me, and I hit the floor.

I was too exhausted to move, and was fighting along the lines of consciousness.

My vision was extremely blurry now, and my headache could probably kill.

I saw her stab her sword in the Minotaur’s head, and he disappeared into monster dust.

She pulled her sword back up, and stood up, but I could see that she was swaying slightly.

She looked at the gates, and I could guess that no one was moving.

Then she looked at me, and took a step towards me, before crumpling to the ground, her sword hitting the floor with a loud clang.

She wasn’t so far away from me.

I could hear her shallow breathing, and watched her slip into unconsciousness.

I then heard the campers shouting orders at each other, to get the both of us to the infirmary.

The last thing I saw was Mira being taken away by other campers, and the second I felt someone touch my back, my world went dark.  


	5. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood

**Mira’s POV**

* * *

 

I woke up with a splitting headache.

I opened my eyes and found myself in an unfamiliar room.

I looked around. There were people walking around, talking.

That’s when I realized I was lying on a bed.

I frowned, and tried to remember what happened.

Oh right! I was walking towards Nico when I fainted. Nico! Is he alright?

I bolted upright in the bed and the world started spinning, along with a worsening headache.

“Argh…” I said, while rubbing my forehead.

A boy with dark hair and sea green eyes immediately came to my bedside, and held me by the shoulders, as if to steady me.

I could tell that his intentions were kind, but I panicked, and kicked him.

He released me in pain and I curled up into a ball on the bed, using the blankets as cover.

“Percy!” I heard a female voice say.

“What?”

“You’re scaring her!” The female voice said.

I then felt someone touch my back, very gently.

I pulled the covers down and saw a girl with grey eyes and blonde hair looking at me.

I could see that she was trying to help me, and so I relaxed a bit.

The girl smiled kindly and said, “Hi. I’m Annabeth Chase. This here,” she pointed at the boy, “Is Percy Jackson.”

“Heya.” The boy said, while flashing a rather goofy smile.

“H…Hi.” I managed to say.

“What’s your name?” Annabeth asked.

“M…Mira…Mirabelle…”

“Do you have a last name?” Percy asked.

“N…No… I’m an orphan.” I replied.

I felt tears gather in my eyes, and Annabeth must’ve noticed, because she pulled me in for a hug and told me, “Don’t worry, we won’t judge you on that. But if you don’t like talking about it, we’ll stop.”

I nodded, and sniffed a little.

Then I remembered something important again.

I pulled away from the hug, eyes widening, and asked, “Where’s Nico?”

Annabeth looked rather confused, so I looked at Percy, and found that his head was cocked to the side.

I thought they didn’t know who he was, and seconds before I was about to describe him to them, Annabeth said, “Nico? He’s back in Cabin 13, the Hades cabin.”

“Can you take me to him?” I asked. I must’ve sounded desperate, because I noticed Percy’s eyes became even more clouded in confusion.

“Uh, I would strongly recommend _not_ to. He’s quite moody, and I don’t think it would be wise to go knocking on his door. How _did_ you know him, anyways?” Percy asked.

I blinked a few times at him, and replied, “No, I met him at school. And just a few hours ago, a flying bald lady which was once the orphanage manager tried to attack me, he pulled out a black sword and stabbed it in its chest, then told me that I was something called a ‘demigod’.” I made air quotations when I said the word ‘demigod’.

Annabeth and Percy weren’t asking anything, so I continued.

“He told me that there was this camp which is safe for demigods to live in, and told me that I should go to this camp, and so he did something called ‘shadow-travelling’ and we ended up on a mountain. Then we walked into a forest and I saw this _huge_ Bull-man run towards us, and so we ran. Well, I followed him, mainly. Then when we reached camp, the Bull-man rammed into Nico, and we just fought the Bull-man.” I said.

They looked rather confused.

They must think I’m crazy or something.

I looked down, and prepared for them to interrogate me.

Percy put his hand on my shoulder, causing my head to jerk up. He was smiling.

“Well then, welcome to Camp Half-Blood. You were out for 3 days, by the way.”

“3 DAYS?!” I panicked.

Annabeth glared at Percy, and Percy immediately looked guilty.

“Well, why don’t we show you around camp? You must be interested.” Annabeth said.

I nodded, and she helped me get up.

I noticed that Percy was holding my backpack, and when I asked him for it, he…pouted(?), and reluctantly handed my backpack.

Annabeth lead me out of my room in the infirmary, where I saw blond kids act as nurses and doctors.

Suddenly, one of those blond kids came running up to us, while shouting, “Wait!”

Annabeth, me, and Percy stopped and turned to look at him.

The kid was panting heavily, like he just ran laps.

“What’s wrong, Will?” Percy asked.

Will said while panting, “Need…to…make…sure…she’s…fit…to…go…”

“Oh, alright.” Annabeth said.

Will asked me to give him my hand, and I extended it.

He took my wrist and felt my pulse, while looking at the colour on my cheeks.

“Your skin is still quite pale. Was it always like this?” He asked me.

I’ve had this question asked by doctors’ _way_ too many times.

“Oh, it’s always been this way. I was just born with it.” I shrugged.

Then Will let go of my wrist, and said, “Well then, you’re good to go!” While patting my shoulder.

“Thanks, Will.” Annabeth said, and took me out of the infirmary.

That was when I truly saw this camp.

I saw people practicing sword fighting, archery, and more.

“Wow…” I said breathlessly.

“You’re definitely strong. No person could take down the Minotaur untrained.” Annabeth said.

As soon as she said that, Percy nudged her with his elbow, and lifted his chin up.

“Oh, that is, if you count _this_ guy out.” She said, while rolling her eyes, and pushed Percy back.

Percy faked to be hurt, and Annabeth faked to be sympathetic towards him.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they were together.

Annabeth gave me a tour of camp, and told me that I would be staying in the Hermes cabin until I got claimed.

Of course, I knew that already. A _certain someone_ has already briefed me on this.

But during the tour, I noticed that they had left Cabin 13 out.

“How about Cabin 13?” I asked.

“What about Cabin 13?” Percy asked.

“Oh…well, uh… I was kind of hoping that you could…um…take me to it?” I stuttered.

Annabeth and Percy exchange glances, and before they could say anything, a burly girl walked up to us, and said, “Yo Princess! Chiron wants to see you guys.”

“Me? What did I do?” Annabeth asked.

The girl rolled her eyes. “Well, not _you_ , not specifically. I think it’s _her_.” And pointed at me.

I was shocked.

“Me? Why me?” I asked.

But the girl had already rudely pushed past me and continued on her way.

“Who _is_ she? I don’t like her one bit.” I declared, while crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“She’s Clarisse. Clarisse la Rue.” Percy said. “Head of the Ares cabin.”

“ _Ex_ -Head of the Ares cabin.” Annabeth corrected. “And you _don’t_ want to mess or upset them. They’re _deadly_. Her especially.”

“Noted” I said.

“Let’s go. Don’t wanna keep Chiron waiting. He’s probably at the Big House.” Annabeth said, and pulled me towards the Big House.

We walked for a while, in cover of the woods.

Then I saw the back of a horse stick out.

I was _thrilled_. I absolutely _loved_ horses! Sometimes it feels like I could communicate with them.

“You didn’t tell me you guys had horses!” I said, and ran towards the horse.

When I got closer, I must say I was disappointed. It wasn’t a horse. It was something that was half-horse, half-man.

He turned and looked at me. The man had curly hair and beard.

Annabeth and Percy came up and said, “Hi Chiron.”

“Wait. _This_ is Chiron?!” I exclaimed.

The man chuckled. “The one and only.”

“Oh.”

Chiron lifted an eyebrow. “You seem disappointed. Why?” He asked, very softly.

He’s wise, I could tell. Not worth lying to.

So I truthfully responded, “I was expecting a horse.”

Chiron then burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny? What am I not getting?”

Percy put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Don’t worry. None of us get it too. Oh, and we forgot to tell you that Chiron was a centaur.”

I glared at Percy. If they had told me that Chiron was a centaur, this whole embarrassing situation could’ve been avoided!

Afterwards, Chiron led us into the Big House, and he gave me _another_ briefing.

I swear, if anyone gives me another one, I’m gonna fall asleep before they could start.

When I finally came out of the Big House, Annabeth and Percy took me to the Hermes cabin, where I would be staying.

When the door opened, I froze. I noticed that Percy shivered, and it looks like goosebumps were forming on his arm.

“What’s wrong, Mira?” Annabeth said.

“W…why is it red…” I stammered.

“Absolutely horrifying. This place needs more blue!” Percy declared.

I felt like I could never agree with him more.

2 kids appeared from behind the bunks and said, “Hi!”

I looked at them in confusion. They looked _exactly_ the same.

“Travis and Conner Stoll.” They introduced.

“Mirabelle.” I mumbled. I wasn’t a social butterfly.

“Here, have a hug.” Conner said. I was still confused, but I gave him a hug.

When we were hugging, I felt his hand slip into my jean pocket, so I pulled out of the hug and slapped him on the arm.

“OW!” Conner yelped.

Percy chuckled, and said, “First person to see past your trick on first try.”

I looked at him and cocked my head to the side.

“They’re the camp pranksters. Give her her wallet back.”

“I didn’t take anything!” Conner said, while rubbing his arm.

I reached into my pocket and took my wallet out. “My wallet’s right here.”

“Oh.”

Even Annabeth was shocked.

“You have good reflexes.”

I smiled sheepishly, and the Stoll brothers led me inside the Hermes cabin, and I put my bag in a bunk.

After that, I decided to take a walk.

Actually, to find Nico and Cabin 13.

I walked around camp, trying to find Cabin 13.

If Annabeth and Percy wouldn’t tell me where Cabin 13 was, I don’t think any of the other campers would either.

After a while, I found a cabin that I’ve never seen before. A cabin that was pure black.

Must be the Hades cabin. After all, the guy’s god of the Underworld.

I went up to the door, and knocked on it.

I heard some shuffling, and the door opened, to reveal the son of Hades.

“Nico!” I shouted, and hugged him.

He became a statue until I released him.

I’m pretty sure I’m grinning like an idiot.

He looked around, as if to see if anyone was watching, and dragged me in.

“What are you doing here.” He hissed, after he closed the door.

“I… I wanted to see you.” I said, quite confused. Isn’t he supposed to be happy to see me?

He sighed, and said, “Who brought you here?”

“No one. I came on my own.” I replied.

Then, he said, in an impossibly soft voice, “Are you alright? You fainted after you defeated the Minotaur.”

“Yeah. I just woke up from a 3-day sleep.” I said.

“Sleeping beauty.” He mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

“I’m _sure_ I heard something…”

“You’re hearing things.”

“Yeah right, emo.”

“What?!”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. He sulked and leaned back on the bed post.

“How do you have such a huge room? It’s not fair! I only get a bunk bed!” I complained, while pacing around.

His room was huge, and guess what? It’s all in black.

“Well, happens when you’re a child of the Big Three.” He said, with a tinge of smugness.

“Thanks, Sherlock.” I mumbled, walked up to his bed, and laid in it.

He looked at me from afar, and I could already picture the look on his face.

His eyes were accusing, his jaw threatening to drop, and his hands crossed at his chest.

I tilted my head to look at him.

_Bingo_.

“It’s _my_ bed, you know.” He said matter-of-fact-ly.

I causally hummed, and closed my eyes. He huffed, and sat down on the bed next to me.

“So… what _do_ you guys do here?” I asked.

“Most people like to train during the day, but I prefer to stay in here.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like interacting.” “

Well you’re doing it _right now_.”

“Do you _want_ me to kick you out?” He asked.

To others, he might have sounded threatening, but I know him well. I know that it’s just his way of messing around.

So I replied with, “No.”

I really don’t want to leave. He was the only person I knew in this strange place.

I might have responded too quickly, because Nico snorted lightly.

I sat up straight at glared at him, and before I could say something, there was a knock on the door, followed by a girl saying, “Nico? Who are you talking to?”

Nico immediately put his finger on my lip to shush me, which I did in shock.

“No one.” He replied.

At that moment, I was kinda worried that he would have a _girlfriend_.

For ‘good’ reasons, of course.

He then pulled me off the bed and shoved me in the bathroom, whispering, “Don’t say anything. Please.”

I nodded, and he closed the bathroom door.

I heard the front door open, and a girl say, “Nico, who were you talking to?”

“I told you, no one.” He replied.

“Nico, you’re not a good liar. I know you were talking to someone.”

“No. You must be hearing things, Hazel.”

Hazel? Who’s Hazel?

“Nico… Don't make me call Piper over.” I heard Hazel sigh.

“What for?” I could tell his tone instantly became more guarded.

Who’s Piper, anyways? Why is Nico afraid of her?

“You know _perfectly_ well what we’ll do.” Hazel said, with a tinge of triumph in her tone.

“Don't you dare…” Nico started, but was interrupted by Hazel saying, “Dress up and get ready by 6, Half-Blood Hill.”

Nico groaned loudly, before the front door slammed shut.

After that, the bathroom door opened, and Nico was looking utterly defeated.

“Who was that?” I asked, walking out.

“My half-sister, Hazel.”

“Half?” I asked.

“Yeah. Greek demigods and Roman demigods sometimes live together. Now, the only Romans in camp are Jason, Frank, and Hazel. So technically, Hazel’s dad is Pluto, not Hades.” He explained.

“Why did she need you to dress up?” I asked.

He groaned, ran his hand through his hair, before saying, “My sister is _desperate_ for me to get a girlfriend.”

I couldn’t help but snicker at that, which earned me a dagger in the form of a glare from Nico.

“What? I can’t help it.” I said.

He was still glaring at me.

“I _hate_ the blind dates they set up. None of them work out anyways!” He complained, throwing his arms up in the air, and he groaned again, before flopping down on the bed.

I walked up to the bed and sat next to him.

“So…” I started, after sitting in silence for a while.

“So.” He repeated.

“What do we do about flying- _The Fury_?” I asked.

He sighed. “The safest place for you to be now is here. But I’m pretty sure you’d rather go look for the helm than going up to Olympus and telling the gods you’re innocent.”

“Yep. _How_ did you know?” I asked, voice dripping in sarcasm.

He rolled his eyes and replied, “Oh, just a random guess.”

I chuckled and hit him lightly on the arm, which he pretended to rub it in pain, causing me to giggle slightly.

“It’s almost dinner. You should go back now.” He said, standing up.

“Why? I don’t wanna leave.” I complained.

“You don’t know your way around. You’ll get lost in the dark. Go while you still have daylight.” He said.

“You can take me back.” I huffed.

“Yeah, but I’m busy.” He said, with an absolutely _annoying_ smirk on his face.

I fought down the urge to slap him, made my way to the door, stopped, and said, “Oh right, you have a date at 6. But are you sure _you_ won’t get lost?”

“I know my way around here. Besides, I can see perfectly in the dark. And _do not_ speak of the things my sister sets up for me.”

“Oh, ok. And to the date thing, _sureeeeeeee_.” Was my answer, before I turned around, opened the door, closed it behind me, and started walking away.

After I took 2 steps, I thought of what he said and froze.

‘ _I can see perfectly in the dark._ ’

Wait.

Does that mean he might have seen me blush that night on the mountain?!

Oh _Gods_ no.

And with that in mind, I started to find my way back to the Hermes cabin.

**Percy’s POV**

* * *

 

She finally woke up! The new girl that was found unconscious outside of camp, along with Nico.

She looked kind of familiar, in some way. I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before. Maybe in a dream? Dunno.

When she introduced herself, that was when me and Annabeth knew she was an orphan. Due to me asking if she had a last name.

Annabeth hugged her, and when she pulled away from the hug, her eyes were huge, and she asked, “Where’s Nico?”

We were confused. We weren’t even aware that they know each other. We only thought something happened, which caused the two of them to pass out in front of camp.

When she asked if we could take her to him, I got even more confused.

Even if, even _if_ knew each other, they wouldn’t be too close to each other, due to Nico’s…behavior.

Annabeth told her that Nico was back at Cabin 13, and she asked us to take her there.

I was absolutely confused.

What was their relationship like?

So I decided to say, “Uh, I would strongly recommend _not_ to. He’s quite moody, and I don’t think it would be wise to go knocking on his door. How _did_ you know him, anyways?”

Then she started telling us everything she knew. I wasn’t paying much attention to her story, but I could tell that _this_ was the demigod Nico told us about.

When she said the word ‘Bull-man’, I immediately focused on what she was saying.

She fought a Minotaur? And successfully defeated it? To be honest, I was rather shocked. This was _definitely_ pure luck.

When she finished, she looked at us, and I saw sadness cloud her eyes a little.

She probably thought that we thought that she was insane.

So, I put my hand on her shoulder and grinned, “Well then, welcome to Camp Half-Blood. You were out for 3 days, by the way.”

It must’ve been a bad time to bring up the fact that she was out for 3 days, because she immediately panicked, causing Annabeth to glare daggers at me, while I put on my best ‘innocent’ look.

I knew we had to do something before she had a full-on panic attack, and as I was thinking, Annabeth said, “Well, why don’t we show you around camp? You must be interested.”

Mirabelle immediately calmed down, and while Annabeth helped her get up, I grabbed her backpack.

This girl had _good_ taste. Her entire backpack was blue, and when she silently extended her hand towards me to take her backpack back, I reluctantly gave it back to her.

As soon as we left her room in the infirmary, someone shouted, “Wait!”

All three of us turned to where the sound came from, and saw Will running towards us.

“What’s wrong, Will?” I asked.

Will looked like he had just ran laps around camp.

While panting, he managed to say, “Need…to…make…sure…she’s…fit…to…go…”

“Oh, alright.” Annabeth said.

He caught his breath before asking Mirabelle for her wrist, to do doctor things that I would never understand.

He told her that her skin was pale, and asked if it was always like that. She replied that it was pale from birth, and we got the doctors clearance to leave the infirmary.

We showed her around camp, banter included, free of charge.

We left Cabin 13 out on purpose, because the last time someone showed a newbie Cabin 13, things didn’t end well.

Let’s just say the newbie has learnt to fear the son of Hades. The hard way.

Mirabelle must’ve noticed, and asked us about Cabin 13.

I pretended to play dumb and replied, “What about Cabin 13?”

She stuttered, “Oh…well, uh… I was kind of hoping that you could…um…take me to it?”

I exchanged glances with Annabeth.

It would be rude to tell her that Cabin 13 was off-limits, and difficult as well.

Just then, Clarisse walked up to us, and told us that Chiron was waiting for us.

To be honest, I probably would’ve kissed Clarisse if she wasn’t going to skin me alive afterwards.

That and probably Annabeth would also decide to kill me as well.

Clarisse pushed past Mirabelle, and at that moment, Mirabelle made it clear that she didn’t like Clarisse.

We introduced Clarisse to Mirabelle, and Annabeth pulled Mirabelle towards the Big House, taking the forest path.

After a while, she must’ve seen Chiron’s backside, cause she said, “You didn’t tell me you guys had horses!”

Before me or Annabeth could stop her, she ran towards Chiron.

Then came the usual disappointment and befuddled chat, and Chiron lead her towards the Big House, where he gave her the CHB introduction video.

She looked bored out of her mind while watching it.

After that, we took her to the Hermes cabin, one of my most disliked places.

The door opened, Mirabelle froze while I shivered and felt goosebumps form on my arm.

Annabeth asked her what was wrong, and she replied with, “W…why is it red…”

I _really_ like her now. _Any_ colour but red would do.

Why do I dislike the colour red? Because the opposite of blue is red.

Annabeth keeps telling me that I’m wrong, but this is a _fact_ and will never change.

“Absolutely horrifying. This place needs more blue!” I declared.

At that moment, Travis and Conner jumped out from behind a bunk.

After introducing themselves, Conner offered Mirabelle a hug.

I wanted to roll eyes.

Of course they would prank a newbie on their first day here. I mean, why wouldn’t they?

When Conner’s hand sneaked to Mirabelle’s jean pocket, she pushed him off her and slapped his arm.

I must say, I was rather amused.

She _already_ saw past the Stoll brother’s first prank.

Mirabelle looked confused, and I explained, “They’re the camp pranksters.” And also requested that Conner giver her her wallet back.

Conner, who was rubbing his arm, said he didn’t take anything.

Mirabelle reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet.

Even Annabeth was shocked.

“You have good reflexes.” I commented.

She smiled sheepishly, and put her bag down in a bunk.

We told the Stoll brothers to take good care of her, and that she could find us any time she wanted.

She nodded and we left.

We decided to take a walk along the shore, as the fresh air helps calm Annabeth down and the water helps calm me down.

But a little stretch of our little shore-line walk involves walking past the Hades cabin, and when we reached that little area, we heard a girl shouting “Nico!” all high-pitched.

Annabeth got curious, and decided to go and investigate.

Thankfully, we had trees as cover.

We got to a little area that allowed us to spy on the Hades cabin, and I nearly screamed.

Mirabelle was _hugging_ Nico. Like, actually _hugging_ him.

I _could not_ believe my eyes.

My jaw dropped and I looked at Annabeth, whose jaw was also dropped.

Then Nico looked around, as if seeing if anyone was around, and dragged Mirabelle in.

Annabeth nudged me, and I whispered, “What?”

“Should we go and listen?” she suggested.

“Listen to what?”

“What they’re saying.” Annabeth said, while rolling her eyes.

“Uh, I mean, _sure_ , but if Nico finds out, you know we’re going to the Fields of Punishment, right?”

Annabeth chuckled, pulled her Yankees cap out, held my arm, put it on, turning the both of us invisible.

We approached the Hades cabin to hear the two of them bickering.

_“Sleeping beauty”_

_“What was that?”_

_“Nothing.”_

_“I’m sure I heard something…”_

_“You’re hearing things.”_

_“Yeah right, emo.”_

_“What?!”_

“Seems like they know each other quite well.” Annabeth said.

I nodded, and we continued to listen.

Mirabelle was complaining about room size, and it seemed like _she_ was the only person who wasn’t afraid of Nico, and even had the guts to argue/ bicker with him.

The two of them conversed for a while, before Annabeth nudged me.

I turned and looked, and saw Hazel making her way to the Hades cabin.

My eyes widened.

Hazel approached the door and was about to knock on it, but she stopped, frowned, and put her ear to the door for a moment, before knocking on the door and said, “Nico? Who are you talking to?”

We heard some shuffling, and then Nico replied.

Hazel opened the door, and the two of them talked, ending with a date notice.

Then we heard Nico groan loudly, saw Hazel leave the Hades cabin, and he and Mirabelle began talking again.

We overheard the two of them talk about finding a helm. What?

After a short while, Mirabelle exited the Hades cabin, only to freeze in her tracks, and then continued walking again.

After she was out of sight, Annabeth removed her cap and dragged me towards the Hades cabin door, and knocked on it.

Nico opened the door, and said, “What.” In monotone.

Annabeth pushed past him, dragging me along into the cabin.

“This is _my_ cabin, you know.” Nico mumbled.

Annabeth then commanded, “What’s your relationship to Mira.”

Nico’s head immediately jerked up, and said, “We just know each other.”

“Oh, I think it’s much more than just _know each other_.” I replied, with a grin on my face.

Nico’s mood darkened, and said, “Get out of my cabin.”

I groaned a little and complained, only to earn a death glare from Nico, who said in an even firmer tone, “Get. Out. Of. _My._ Cabin.”

Annabeth grabbed me by the wrist and walked out, while grumbling, ‘Didn’t see _you_ kick Mira out of _your cabin_.”

I’m pretty sure I saw Nico’s eyes widen just before the door slammed shut, and Annabeth continued dragging me.

“Ow, hey Wise Girl, stop dragging me! I can walk perfectly well on my own.” I said, snatching my wrist back.

“Whatever, Seaweed Brain.” She rolled her eyes.

“Where to now?” Hermes cabin? Aphrodite cabin?” I suggested.

“I think it would be best to tell the others.” Annabeth said with a smirk.

I chuckled, and we went to training fields, where everyone else was.

“Hey!” I shouted, while waving my hand.

“Oh, so the son of Poseidon _waves_.” Leo said, earning a smack on the head by Calypso.

“Honestly Cal, I _really_ don’t understand how you could stand him all day long.” Piper said, while face palming herself.

Calypso rolled her eyes and said, “Just keep a frying pan or a pot at the ready and you’re fine.”

Leo looked at Calypso while rubbing the back of his head, and Jason said, “So, what’s up?”

“We overheard Mira and Nico talking in the Hades cabin.” I said.

“I _knew_ Nico was talking to someone!” Hazel said. “Who’s Mira?”

“The new demigod. The one we found unconscious at the gates with Nico.” Annabeth explained.

“Oh. What did you hear them talking about, _exactly_?” Piper asked, a wide grin threatening to spread.

“Well, they bickered for a while, and then they talked about finding a helm.” Annabeth explained.

“A helm? There are tons of helms! It could be my father’s helm, Ares’ helm, Athena’s helm, Hades helm…” Frank trailed off.

“Well, we also know that they were attacked by a Fury, so maybe it’s Hades helm of darkness.” Annabeth said.

“Possible, but we would know if the helm if missing, right? There would be a quest or Chiron would tell us about it.” Hazel said.

“Maybe he doesn’t know?” Calypso suggested.

“Quite possible. But we should head to the pavilion now. I’m hungry.” I exclaimed.

The rest of them laughed as they picked up and sheathed their weapons, walking towards the dining pavilion.


	6. So close, yet so far...

**Nico’s POV**

* * *

 

After Mira left my cabin, I’m pretty sure I saw her freeze for a moment, before continuing on her way.

I wanted to lock myself in the cabin, but I know that Hazel would get Leo to pick the lock, and get Piper here to stuff me in horrible clothes.

So, just like the last million times, I ran my hand through my hair to comb it, and laid on the bed, waiting for my slaughter.

Hazel said ‘it’s not _that_ bad’, but I would rather go through Tartarus once more than be set up to one more blind date.

There was only about 5 minutes till 6, so I decided to stay in my bed until I had to leave.

When I reached Half-Blood Hill, Hazel was there already, waiting for me.

“Oh, you’re finally here. I was about to ask Leo to pick your lock.”

“Just get this over with.” I mumbled. I _hate_ these dates.

“Daughter of Aphrodite.” Hazel said, and pointed at a girl who was dressed up in a pink dress.

I groaned loudly. _Anything_ but children of Aphrodite. They drive me _insane_.

Hazel pushed me towards the girl, and I saw a table there, lined with food. The girl was sitting opposite of me.

When she saw me, her face lit up, and her eyes twinkled.

I resisted the urge to shadow-travel out immediately, as Hazel was still watching.

She would murder me if she saw me shadow-travel out.

 Then, the girl said in a posh British accent, “Heya. Name’s Helena, but you probably know. Daughter of Aphrodite.”

‘ _Kill me. I don’t care what you’re called._ ’ I thought.

“So, from what I know, you’re looking for a girlfriend?”

‘ _No, my half-sister’s setting these up for me because she likes to watch me suffer._ ’

“Would you like me to be your girlfriend?”

‘ _No, just run away already so I can return to my cabin._ ’

I began writing the phrase ‘help me’ on the dirt with my feet, just so I could focus on anything but the girl sitting in front of me.

Surprisingly, the words disappeared and ‘Who are you?’ replaced it.

The girl was still talking, but I wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying.

I wrote in the dirt, ‘Who are _you_?’

The message turned into ‘Someone.’

I replied with ‘Are you a demigod?’

‘Yes.’ Was the response. I sighed in relief. This mysterious person could save me!

Well, only if it isn’t people like Clarisse, Conner, Travis, etc.

‘Are you busy?’ I asked.

‘No.’

‘Where are you?’

‘Why should I tell you?’

‘Please.’

This was one of those desperate and rare moments where I would say please.

‘Dining Pavilion.’

I had to guess who this demigod was. I didn’t know who they were, and they didn’t know who I was.

A demigod that was well guarded and careful. _Definitely_ not one of the seven. Well, maybe aside Annabeth.

‘Are you male or female?’ I asked.

‘You answer first.’

A demigod that was well guarded, careful, and doesn’t answer questions straight away.

I could think of one person who was like that, but then again, probably not.

‘Fine. Male.’

‘Female.’

Hm… well that narrows it down a little. But if it’s _really_ her, how is she able to send messages to me? Child of H- No… Not likely.

‘What’s your name?’ The message said.

‘Why should I tell you?’ Two can play at this game.

‘Just curious, jeez.’

‘Are you new?’ I asked. Time to confirm my doubts.

‘New? Where?’

Ok. Is she playing dumb or does she really _not_ know.

‘New at Camp.’ I wrote, only for the girl in front of me to say, “Hey Nico, were you listening?”

“No.” I replied. Hopefully that would be enough to make her go away. But unfortunately for me, she stayed, and said, “Well, I _said_ that if you really want me as a girlfriend then you would have to treat me to flowers, expensive dates, fancy clothes…” I lost focus after that.

The message on the ground was ‘Yes.’, but it changed into, ‘Hello? Still there?’

I replied ‘Yes.’

‘I’m quite lonely.’ I was curious now. If it _really_ is her, why would she be lonely?

Oh right. She doesn’t fit in anywhere.

‘Is the Hermes cabin not fun?’ I asked.

‘How did you know I was in the Hermes cabin?’

‘Just a guess. Most newbies go there.’

‘Nico?’ Was the response.

‘How do you know my name?’

A demigod that was well guarded, careful, doesn’t answer questions straight away, a newbie, and knows my name.

That narrows it down to only the old campers, I’m not sure if the relatively new ones know my name, but the only new demigod that knows my name is Mira.

At least, that’s what I think.

‘Who are you?’ I asked.

‘Guess.’ Was the response.

Fine. If she wants to play this game, then I’ll play along.

‘Hmm… Clarisse?’ I responded.

I had to push down the smile that was threatening to form.

‘No! What?’

‘Calypso.’

‘No! Who’s that?’

I chose not to reply to her question and instead, wrote ‘Piper.’

‘The girl you were afraid of that wasn’t your half-sister?’ She asked.

She was one of the easiest people to trick.

Aside from Percy, of course. You could literally tick him and he won’t get it until at least one minute later.  

‘Hmm… I wonder who was in my cabin today when Hazel said that…’ I wrote.

‘Dam it!’ She responded. She had a funny way of spelling ‘damn’.

‘How long have you known for?’ She asked.

‘Quite some time.’ I replied honestly.

‘Why were you asking if I was busy or not?’

‘So you could come save me.’

‘From your date? I have to eat, you know.’ I could imagine her snorting loudly while saying that.

‘Yes I know, but please. I think I’m going insane.’

‘You always were.’ She was _definitely_ rolling her eyes.

‘Please save me.’

‘So, you _can_ say please more than once. I’m surprised.’

‘Oh, stop it already.’ I complained.

‘That was weak.’ She replied. The table shook, and I jerked my head up.

“What are you looking at? Is the floor really that interesting?” the girl asked. I glared at her for ruining the conversation, and replied, “Yes.”

She huffed, and said, “So are we going to eat or what?” I could tell that there was annoyance in her tone, and I silently cheered.

I glanced sideways, and found Hazel sitting on top of a tree, still watching.

Last time, she made Frank turn into a hawk and spy on me.

Let’s just say the end consequence was the Hades cabin almost exploding into cursed gems. I paid attention to the girl for 10 more seconds, and looked back down at the floor.

‘Hello? Are you dead? Need me to take your body back to your dad?’

I almost snorted out loud. ‘Yes, I’m perfectly dead. And no, don’t take my body back to my father. Just burn it.’

‘Oh, then I’ll bring a torch along.’ Yes, she’s coming to save me. Maybe.

‘Use the torch to light up the way to the Underworld. And make sure I _don’t_ end up in Tartarus.’

‘Would you prefer Fields of Punishment then?’

I like having these conversations with her.

I would’ve punched the living daylights out of any other person who tried to bicker with me, but for her, I liked bickering with her.

Because, as I said before, she’s special.

‘So when are you gonna arrive? I have to catch a ferry across the Styx.’

‘Can’t you just tell the ferryman to come and transport his boss’ son across?’

‘Just come already.’

‘I’M ON DESSERT! HAVE A LITTLE PATIENCE!’ she said.

‘I swear it's been seventy years already.’ I smirked as I wrote that.

‘Well, keep waiting, old man.’

‘Slow-poke.’

‘ _Old man_.’

‘Is that all you’ve got?’

‘You know _perfectly well_ that I could choose to just leave you alone, right?’

Damn, she got me there.

When I didn’t reply, she taunted back with, ‘What? Cat got your tongue?’

‘Are you done with dessert yet.’ I asked.

‘Almost. Just allow me to have a few more scoops of ice cream.’

‘You could always go back for more, you know.’

‘Kitchen raid? You guys have that here?’

From what she told me, she was infamous at the orphanage for kitchen raids.

She would sneak out at night to the kitchen, and if she had time and was really hungry, she could cook a pot of noodles _and_ wash everything and nobody would realize. She sometimes would also sneak a couple bars of chocolate to the other children at the orphanage, if they asked.

‘Yep. Just don’t get caught.’

I could imagine her giggling slightly as she wrote, ‘Nah, I still don’t know how things work here. Maybe in a couple months time.’

‘Finished with ice cream yet?’ I wasn’t known for patience, and she knew that.

But for her, my tolerance and patience levels would sky-rocket.

‘No, and don’t you _dare_ try and strip me of my ice cream.’ She was also known to be _extremely_ violent when it comes to food.

Last month, she broke a boy’s nose and nearly his ribs when he almost took the last pudding at the school cafeteria.

The food was horrendous, but the puddings were rare and amazing. Of course, she had to apologize to the boy and got detention for a week straight.

Which she escaped 3 times. I don’t get how she does it.

Once, when I was staying at school waiting for Grover, because he said he would drive, I saw her sneaking past the corridor right by the library, and it looked like she just came out of the detention room. She looked around as if to see if anyone was near, and ran off. I went to the detention room, and found the teacher _knocked out_ with a cup of coffee in her hands. I’m guessing she put sleeping pills in the coffee. I have no idea where she got it from, though.

‘I won’t. I know better than to do that.’ I replied with a soft sigh.

“Nico? Why are you sighing? Did you like what I said? Or do you not agree?”

“Huh?” I said, head jerking up once more.

The girl huffed and mumbled, “Never mind.”

I then proceeded to look down, and found that Mira had written, ‘I’m coming.’

YES! I can finally leave this place! And Hazel can’t do anything about it! But… how will she get me out?

As I was thinking of the many different scenarios of how she could appear, I heard someone shout “NICO DI ANGELO!” all high-pitched.

I sighed.

“Zeus Almighty…” I grumbled. Mira appeared behind the bushed, torch in hand. Where in Tartarus did she get a torch?

“GIVE IT BACK!” She shouted, acting all angry and stuff.

“Give _what_ back?!” I said, acting panicked.

“YOU STOLE MY WALLET!” she shouted, and proceeded to walk forwards to kick my ass.

I immediately scrambled off the chair and ran off, with Mira following closely behind.

Once we ran away far enough, I hid behind a tree trunk, waiting for her to come along.

Soon enough, she ran past me, and I tackled her to the ground.

“Oof!” she said, as we tumbled onto the floor. She let go of the torch, and it rolled off on the damp grass, extinguishing itself.

I chuckled slightly and mocked her, “You stole my wallet. How original.”

“Well, was there _anything_ else I could’ve said?” She giggled.

“You didn’t have to look like you were 3 seconds away from murdering me.”

“Well, that’s just so that no one would stop me. Was the drama good enough at least?”

“Yeah.”

That’s when I noticed what position we were in.

My hands were on either side of her waist, her hands were on the sides of her head, I was _on top_ of her, she was _underneath_ me, her pale cheeks were tinted with a shade of pinkish-red, her lips were parted, eyes blown wide open as she probably realized the situation in which we were in, and was bathed in moonlight. My heart felt like it was running a million miles an hour. I… I’ve _never_ felt like this before…

What _is_ this feeling? It never occurred to me that I was capable of these emotions.

Her breathing hitched a little, and I had the sudden urge to press my lips to hers. I felt my lips part, and her cheeks reddened even more.

If I thought she was adorable before, she was now _stunningly beautiful_.

I leaned forwards, inching to close the gap between us. I felt her heart beat increase, like it was beating in the same rhythm as mine.

I leaned in so close that our noses were touching, and I could feel her soft, warm breath on my lips.

My eyes shot down to look at her lips, and she must’ve noticed, because she bit her bottom lip.

She always looked amazing when she did that.

I leaned in even further, and felt our lips brush past each other.

At that, she released her bottom lip, probably out of shock.

I was _so_ close when we heard Hazel shout, “Nico! Where are you!”

I shot back up immediately, widening my eyes.

After I made sure that Hazel wasn’t near us, I looked back down at Mira.

Her cheeks were still red, and she was trying her best to act like I didn’t just try to kiss her.

I got off her and offered her my hand, which she took in silence.

I’d rather she scream at me than stay silent.

Once she was back on her feet, I looked at her.

She wasn’t looking at me, and was hiding her face with loose, flowing blond hair. But I could still see the blush coming through.

I sighed softly, “Come on, let’s get back to camp. It’s getting late.” She nodded, and I began walking.

Throughout the entire walk, she stayed behind me, and would rather look at the floor than me.

I took her to the Hermes cabin, where Conner and Travis greeted her.

“Oh Mira! There you are. We’ve been looking all around for you!” Travis went and attempted to hug Mira, but she pushed past him and went into the cabin.

“What’s up with her?” Conner asked me. I simply shrugged, and started to walk back into my cabin.

When I got back, Hazel was there, waiting for me.

Once she saw me, she shot up and said, “Nico! There you are! Who was that girl that claimed you stole her wallet? How did she know your name?”

“That… That girl is new. After a while I found out that one of the Stoll brothers dressed up as me and stole her wallet.”

“Oh well, they’re good as dead. But how did she know your name is she’s new?”

“Hazel… she’s the one who you found unconscious next to me…” I sighed.

“Oh. Wait… you know each other?”

“Technically speaking, yes.”

“Oh.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the Ares cabin?” I asked.

The Romans were staying at the Greek counterparts of their parents. But Hazel likes to be with Frank, and she hasn’t moved in, so I assumed she’s spending her time at the Ares cabin.

“Well, I _could_ spend time with my brother, can I?” she questioned. I huffed, and laid on the bed.

“You’re not gonna talk to me?” Hazel asked, after moments of silence. I didn’t respond, and Hazel left the Hades cabin.

After the door shut behind her, I sat back up on the bed and buried my head in my hands.

Oh Gods Nico… why did you do that?! She’s probably terrified of you now… and will stay away from you now… who did you think you are… to be capable of love… she’ll hate you from now on… what _have_ you done…

I wanted to ask Piper for help, but I stopped myself from opening the door.

If Piper knew, then Hazel would know. If Hazel knew, then Jason, Leo, Frank, and Percy would know, which also meant that Calypso and Annabeth would know, and if Leo knew, it meant that the entire camp would know.

And I _will not_ allow that to happen.

To be honest, it _is_ a rather foolish thought to have, that she would _ever_ love me back.

She probably likes some other guy, just anyone but me. Someone like her could never love someone like me.

I laid back in bed, trying to think of what I could do, when I thought of an idea.

Probably not the best one, but it could still work out.

But one wrong move and it could send me to the depths of Tartarus.

I thought about it for a while more, before deciding to go with it. It was probably one of the stupidest plans I could’ve came up with.

I shadow-travelled behind the Hermes cabin, willed the shadows to wrap around me, making me invisible against the darkness.

I peered in through the window and found her lying on her bed.

She had a rather blank expression on her face, and was staring straight at the ceiling, not even moving or twitching.

Then, a voice spoke to me, “ _Kill…_ ”

I immediately spun around to see if anyone was whispering in my ear, but no one was there.

The voice spoke again, “ _Thief…_ ” It was when I realized that the voice was in my head.

I looked at Mira, and the voice said, this time louder, “ _Pay…_ ”

Thief? Kill? Pay? What? Oh wait, father’s accusing Mira of stealing his helm.

So… what _is_ father doing in my head? But it didn’t sound like him. It sounded female. Couldn’t be Persephone, she can’t do that.

Furies? But they aren’t able to do that, are they?

The voice spoke again, “ _Spill her blood…_ ” Who, Mira? Never!

I was getting a minor headache at this point, so I decided to shadow-travel back into my cabin, and laid in bed.

Once I closed my eyes, I was drifting off.

Then I woke up.

The voice was clearer now, and was whispering full sentences.

“ _Kill the thief… she must pay…spill her blood…bring back the helm…_ ”

But it was no longer in my head. It was coming from the outside. I opened the door, but instead of seeing camp, I was in the Underworld. More specifically, the throne room of my father’s palace. My father was there, outside the door. Only… he seemed rather blurry.

“Father?” I asked.

“Nico.” he said. He sounded…different.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“The girl you were watching. She is a thief. She took my helm.” He replied.

“No, father, you’re mistaken! She only knew that she was a demigod a few days ago! And that was after Alecto’s attack! How could she possibly take the helm?”

“You are still naïve. She knew she was a demigod long ago. Now, my child, listen to me. She will set off to find the helm, and you must accompany her. You must manipulate her into telling you bits of where the helm is hidden. And before she gets it, you must kill her. Spill her blood in my name.”

“But why? I refuse to believe that she stole your helm. And I _will not_ kill her, under any circumstance.”

Father sighed, and said, “You will still have to look for the helm. In your journey, you might be able to see that she was behind all of this.”

He then produced a black dagger.

“Kill her with this. When the time comes, you will know what to do. _Do not_ let her touch my helm for the second time. Do not fail me.”

He shoved the dagger in my hands, and with that, I bolted upright.

That was when I realized that it was all a dream, and that I was drenched in cold sweat. I thought about what my father said, and realized that I was holding something.

I bought my hand up, and saw a black dagger in my hands.

The exact one father gave me in the dream.

So was it still a dream? I didn’t know anymore.

What I _do_ know, however, is that I would have to accompany Mira in finding the helm, and also, keep her safe from all threats, even if it would mean fighting my own father.

I closed my eyes again, and fell into a deep slumber.


	7. Capture the Flag

**Percy’s POV**

* * *

 

The next day, me and Annabeth went to the Dining Pavilion for breakfast. We found Mira walking alone, from the Hermes cabin to the Pavilion.

“Hey!” I called out. She jumped, before her head spun over to us.

“Oh hey.” She said weakly.

“Had a good sleep?” Annabeth asked.

“Yeah…Sorta…” she said, while awkwardly rubbing the back of her head.

“You ok?” I asked. There was _definitely_ something off…

“No…I’m fine…” Mira replied.

“You sure?” I asked. She nodded, and we walked in silence.

Once we reached the Pavilion, Mira went off to the Hermes table, where she grabbed a plate and sat down. I watched her from our table.

She had pancakes for breakfast, which were…blue. There was also a syrup bottle next to her, which she uncapped and dumped it all on the pancakes.

“Ugh really? She eats pancakes like you to?” Annabeth said. I smirked and dumped my syrup on my blue pancakes, while Annabeth sighed.

The others slowly started joining us, except Nico, of course. He never comes to breakfast.

“So, what are we doing today?” Calypso asked.

“I think it’s capture the flag.” Piper replied.

“Oh nice! I love capture the flag!” Hazel said.

“Same!” Jason replied.

We talked through breakfast, and when we were almost done, I heard voices.

“Brother! No! Put me down! Percy! Save me!” It was a little girl’s voice. I frown and saw something in front of me. It was rather blurry though.

“Mira, please. It’s for your own good.” There was a man holding Mira up, and she was struggling.

“No! Mommy! Help!” she wailed. I saw a woman with familiar curly brown hair approach her and whisper, “I’m so sorry Mira, but it’s the only way to make sure you don’t get killed.”

“Mommy please…” she whispered, but was choking. The man set her down and hugged her.

“Daughter… you’ll understand when you get older. I don’t want you to die, alright? If you stay with your brother, you will die. And I don't want that to happen.”

“Daddy…” she sobbed.

“Oh Seashell... I love you so much…” he said.

Then a small boy, probably older than her, came forward and asked, “Why does sister have to go, Daddy? Why can’t she stay?”

The man replied, “Percy, both of you are in danger. If I don’t hide your sister, you’ll be in even more danger. Please understand.” The boy nodded, and the man scooped up Mira again, but this time, she wasn’t screaming. She was silently sobbing.

Then I felt someone touch my shoulder, and I jolted up.

“Percy? Are you ok? You were staring off into the distance for a very long time.” Annabeth said. I looked at the others.

They were all staring at me with worried expressions, and I said with a forced smile, “Nah, everything’s alright.”

“You sure?” Piper asked. “You don’t seem so good.”

“Nah, I’m fine.” I reassured. “Come on,” I gestured to Annabeth. “Let’s go take a walk.” She nodded, and took my hand.

We walked in silence along the beach, until we saw something interesting happening outside of the Hermes cabin. Annabeth pulled me towards a bush, and we started spying.

Man, we’ve spied a lot!

“Mira, I…I’m sorry, I…I didn’t…didn’t know wh…what I…I was do…doing…Pl…Please do…don’t be mad a…at me…” We heard a guy say.

Annabeth looked at me and mouth and mouthed, “Nico?”

I shrugged in response, and we continued spying.

“Nico… leave it. Whatever happened…happened. Please. I just…I…Just…Don’t bring it up again. Please.” Mira said.

Oh man, something _big_ happened.

We saw Mira turn to leave, but then Nico grabbed her wrist, causing her to spin around.

“Please. Don’t be mad.”

“Ni...Nico…I…I don’t know _what_ you saw in me, but I’m not the person you think I am. Please. Just…Just let this go.” Then, she lifted her wrist up, and started prying his fingers off him one by one.

Just like in the sad scenes in a romance movie. All we need is a sunset and some emotional music and voila! A sob scene.

Then Mira let go of his hand, turned, and walked away. Nico stood there for quite some time before he let his hand fall back down. Then, he turned and walked away.

Annabeth pulled me back down and whispered, “You go after Mira. I’ll go after Nico.”

“You sure?” I asked. Annabeth nodded, and we went our separate ways.

I found Mira sitting beside a lake, throwing stones. Normally throwing stones would be a lot of fun for me, but she seemed bored.

The stones weren’t even skipping along the surface. They just…sunk to the bottom.

I watched her sigh softly, as she picked up another rock and threw it into the lake. I wanted to tell her that she was hurting the fish, but then I remembered that I was spying on her.

I watched as she stared into her own hands for a while, then stood back up and walked away. I went back and found Annabeth near the fire, and walked up to her.

“See anything interesting?” I asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t classify it as _interesting_ , but it’s something.” She shrugged. “Well, Nico went back to the Hades cabin, but he left the curtains open. I looked in and saw him crouched in a corner muttering something I couldn’t hear.”

“As for me, I found Mira sitting near the lake throwing stones and staring at her own hands.” I replied. Before Annabeth could say anything, the horn sounded.

“Time for capture the flag, Seaweed Brain.” Annabeth sighed. We walked towards Chiron, and he was splitting the teams.

“Hermes, Hecate, Zeus, Hades, and Demeter cabin on the red team, Poseidon, Ares, Hephaestus, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Athena cabin on the blue team. To your positions!”

I noticed Mira shuddered a little after learning that she was on the red team.

For me, I believe that the red team is bad luck, because the colour red is involved. But Mira’s probably gonna get flag duty or something like that.

Which is the easiest yet toughest position available. Which is also kinda ironic.

“Ready? Jackson?” Jason said. He was standing in front of me, ready to strike.

“Always, Grace.” I replied with a smirk. The horn sounded again, and we fought.

Thank Gods we had the Athena and Hephaestus cabin with us; otherwise we would have never gotten past the Hecate cabin’s spells.

I saw Piper get wrapped up in vines, and I knew the Demeter cabin were using the vine strategy.

What kind of strategy is that, you ask? Basically the Demeter cabin supplies the vines, and the Hermes kids, mainly Travis and Conner, trip people over or weave badly constructed nets to trap people in.

We pushed past their defenses like sand, and in no time we reached the flag. We found Mira sitting there, with Nico next to her. When they heard us approaching, they immediately jerked up and got prepared to fight.

The Ares cabin first attacked, and Nico summoned a small army of skeletons to hold back the few remaining Ares kids we had left. The Apollo cabin started firing arrows at Mira, probably because she was still untrained and is an easy target.

But it turns out that Mira could _really_ dodge. She dodged all the arrows fired by the Apollo cabin, and managed to deflect a few with her sword.

Her sword… Something about that silver sword seemed so familiar… Where have I seen it before?

Before I could think about it, Annabeth shouted at me to stop dreaming, because Nico’s skeletons already took down the Ares and Apollo cabin.

I’m pretty sure that their team is not fully down yet; although they have suffered more loses than us. Before the Hephaestus cabin could throw their Greek fire, a vine net came out of nowhere and scooped up the entire Hephaestus cabin.

“Oh come _on_!” Annabeth and Leo said in unison. I turned around and saw Travis, Conner, and Katie standing there.

“Oh really?” I shouted back. The three of them smirked before running away to help Nico and Mira in fighting the Athena cabin.

After a few more minutes, everyone was down except for me, Nico, and Mira.

“Percy! You can win this!” Annabeth shouted from the spectators stand. Well not actually a stand, but you get the idea.

“Bro! It’s a two v one! Good luck!” Jason shouted.

Ok… taking down a son of Hades and a person who is very familiar and if the vision is real, my sister.

Phew! No sweat.

I attacked Nico, who immediately dodged. Mira attacked from my other side, and the two of them started to sandwich me.

I immediately retreated to the small stretch of running water, got my strength back, and decided to take down Nico first.

I swung Riptide at him, which he didn’t parry in time. The slash left a wound on his arm, and then I slammed the hilt of Riptide towards his gut, making him lose his balance.

“Nico’s out!” shouted many people from the crowd. Nico stood up and walked towards the spectators, while cursing endlessly.

Just me and Mira left.

Her eyes were wide with fear, but she was holding her ground.

I’ve got to say, I admire her valor.

“You can do this Mira!” shouted Travis. Or Conner. Either one.

She gulped, before charging in. I side stepped her attack and slammed the hilt of Riptide onto her back, causing her to fall forward in the water.

I waited for her to stand back up, and readied myself.

“Be careful next time you charge at somebody.” I said.

She nodded, before charging at me again. I side stepped it again, but this time, she swung her sword and the hilt hit my side.

My natural instincts took over, and I slammed Riptide’s blade down. She parried the attack, and we began fighting.

As we were fighting, I began wondering if she was _really_ untrained. She fought like a true warrior, although her slashes were a bit wide.

I managed to land two hits on her. The first one cut her arm, and the second one was across her cheek.

She staggered back a little, in pain.

I lowered my sword and said, “Sorry. Are you alright?” But instead of answering me, she looked up.

I can’t say I wasn’t terrified. Her aqua eyes were now _glowing_.

Then she leaped towards me in a speed that wasn’t like her. Everyone must have noticed something was wrong, but Chiron held them back. I disarmed her with a clever trick Annabeth taught me, and swung my sword down.

I was surprised when she caught Riptide’s blade with her bare hands. I was too focused on her that I didn’t notice the blade freezing until I felt coldness creeping up on my hand.

When I looked down at Riptide, I saw that it was coated in a layer of ice, and her hands, which was holding the blade, was glowing ice blue.

I staggered back, pried Riptide away from her hands, and took a good look at it.

‘Wow.’ I thought. Then I attacked again, and she didn’t dodge in time.

Riptide caused another wound on her arm, and suddenly, she raised her hands.

Water began rushing in everywhere and began to crush me.

Luckily, I’m a child of Poseidon. I attempted to redirect the water, but it wouldn’t work. The water refused to cooperate.

The water came crashing down on me, and I realized that it was ice cold water. Cold enough to freeze people.

When the water stopped, I saw Mira, kneeling down on the floor. The glow in her eyes had already faded, and it seemed like she had drained herself.

I was drenched in ice cold water, but I found the strength to run towards her and catch her before she fell to the ground.

Then, the rest of the campers came forwards.

At that moment, Annabeth pointed out shakily, “P…Percy? There’s a tri…trident above your head…”

I looked up. Sure enough, there was a trident above my head. But what? I’ve already been claimed before!

Then I looked at Mira. She was still awake, but very weak. There was also a trident above her head, but the tips were coated with something. No one spoke for a very long time, probably out of confusion.

Then Chiron said, “Hail, Mirabelle Jackson. Daughter of Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses, Sister of Perseus Jackson.”

I was truly shocked at that point. My…sister… So… the vision was real…

People started to kneel in front of us, Mira’s aqua eyes were wide in shock, and she stared at me.

I couldn’t…couldn’t believe it… I had a _sister_ …

Then the trident above our heads disappeared, but above Mira’s head appeared an ice blue snowflake.

I was so confused by now. I turned and looked at Chiron, whose eyes were also wide.

Then I looked at the crowd. No one understood what this meant either.

Chiron took a deep breath and said, “Legacy of Khione, Goddess of Ice and Snow.” Mira’s eyes widened even more, before she promptly fainted in my arms. People were starting to get up, and I picked Mira up bridal style.

“I’m gonna need some help in tending her.” I said, in my best leader voice. The rest of them made way for us and began to murmur between themselves as I brought her to the infirmary.

Once she was safe and sound in the Infirmary and under the care of Dr. Solace, I went to the Hermes cabin to get her backpack. There was chatter in the cabin, but the second I opened the door, everything died down. I went to her bed and got her backpack, which was sitting neatly on the bed, and left the Hermes cabin.

I got to the Poseidon cabin, threw her backpack down on the couch, and collapsed next to it. This was a lot of information, even for someone like me.

Then I heard knocking on the door. I opened it, and found The Seven standing outside.

“Hey… Can we come in?” Annabeth asked. I nodded silently and let them in. Once they were all in, I closed the door and collapsed back onto the couch, next to Annabeth.

“So… Sister?” Jason started, after a very long moment of silence.

“Yeah. I guess.” I managed weakly.

“He’s still in shock, guys. Don’t put too much pressure on him.” Hazel said.

“Nah… I’m fine.” I said.

“Seaweed Brain, you’re not. Rest.” Annabeth said, and gently pushed my head back on her shoulder. We continued to sit in silence until a small wave of water came up from the lake into the cabin, and took the shape of a man.

“So… I believe I have some explaining to do…” The man said, while rubbing the back of his head nervously. All of us were staring at him. Some in shock, some in confusion, and some in annoyance.

I think I was the only one in the ‘annoyance’ part.

He was wearing a Hawaiian t-shirt and shorts, complete with flip-flops.

“Yes. Yes you do, dad.” I said, while sitting straight up.

Dad took a seat on the floor, next to Hazel and Piper, sighed, and began.

“Well, years ago, me and Sally actually had two kids. You were the first, then came Mira, 3 years later. One night, when you were 4, monsters attacked our apartment. I was barely able to fend them off from you, Mira, and Sally. When they were all gone, I went to check on the 3 of you. It turned out that one monster, holding a bow, had shot Mira straight in the stomach. I couldn’t let my daughter die, so I immediately took her to Hades and begged him to let her live. Hades said that the only way to ensure that she lives is by getting another god or goddess to give her their power. I asked Hades to do so, and he refused. So I searched for a long time, until I came across Khione. The second I asked her, she agreed. Khione lent her power to Mira, and she lived. But Khione’s power changed her a little. Her skin immediately became pale, and her once light brown hair turned blond. After that attack, I realized that the two of you won’t survive if you were together, so I had to separate the two of you. I asked Sally which one she would like to keep, and after a very long time and some pleading from her to take Mira into my palace, she chose to keep you. Then I told Sally to take Mira to an orphanage, in hopes that the two of you might never meet. But now… now, the two of you finally met. I can’t say that I’m happy, and I can't say that I'm disappointed. I'm just… glad that the two of you are ok.” He explained.

The rest of them were in shock, and I felt a very familiar feeling of anger and rage building up.

“And you never told me?!” I said, raising my voice a little.

“I'm sorry, Percy. It was for your good.” Dad said.

“For my good? Do you even know what’s _good_ for me?! If I knew I had a sister all along, I could’ve… I could’ve…” I trailed off.

Dad stood up and pulled me into a hugged, which I tried to wriggle out of, but failed.

“I’m very sorry Percy, I really am. I just didn’t want anything to happen to the two of you.” He explained.

Somehow, that explanation made me feel a little better than before, but I was still mad at him.

Before I could say anything, he pulled out of the hug and said, “Percy, I’m sorry. I would’ve liked to stay for longer, but I have my own duties to attend to. And that Zeus will probably find out that I’m down here. Tell Mira I give her all my blessings.”

And with that, he faded back into water, and disappeared back into the lake.

I decided that I needed some time alone to think on what happened.

“Guys, I hate to kick you out, but I would _really_ like some time alone.” I said.

“It’s alright, Percy. We understand.” Calypso said as she put her hand on my shoulder.

Then they all left my cabin, and Annabeth gave me a small kiss before she left. I sat on my bed and started to think about everything that happened.

Gods, I also might need to get Mira a new room here…

**Nico’s POV**

* * *

 

I woke up with a minor headache.

‘Gods…’ I thought as I got out of bed. I went into the bathroom and looked at my reflection on the mirror.

I looked horrible. Good.

I readied myself and prepared for another day of torture.

Once I got back out, I saw the dagger sitting on the bed, gleaming at me.

I felt a sudden temptation to use it, but I decided not to. Instead, I picked it up and stored it away in a hidden drawer of my closet.

I went out of the cabin, which was extremely rare for me, but I had matters to attend to. I was thinking of joining the Seven at breakfast, until I saw a very familiar shape walking towards the Hermes cabin.

I ran towards her and held her wrist before she could walk in. She turned around, and once again, I drowned in her brilliant aqua eyes.

“M…Mi…Mira…” I stammered.

“Nico.” she said, with a kind of steel in her tone that made her seem strong and unmovable.

“I… I’m… s…sorr…sorry…” I started.

She sighed, and said, “Just leave it.” And turned towards the Hermes cabin.

I grabbed her wrist and stammered, “Mira, I…I’m sorry, I…I didn’t…didn’t know wh…what I…I was do…doing…Pl…Please do…don’t be mad a…at me…”

I dropped her wrist after I said that.

She spun back around, looked at me, and said, “Nico… leave it. Whatever happened…happened. Please. I just…I…Just…Don’t bring it up again. Please.”

I started to panic inwardly. She was _definitely_ mad at me. Oh Gods, what do I do now?

She turned to leave again, and I caught her wrist again. “Please. Don’t be mad.” I tried hopelessly.

I didn’t want to lose the only person who cared for me.

“Ni...Nico…I…I don’t know _what_ you saw in me, but I’m not the person you think I am. Please. Just…Just let this go.” She said.

I wanted to tell her that she was the prettiest and most perfect person that I have ever met, but for some reason, I couldn’t.

Then she lifted my hand, and started prying my fingers off her wrist. I could’ve held on tight, but the mixture and conflict of emotions in her aqua eyes paralyzed me.

I had no idea what to do. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t speak, nothing.

Before she pried the last finger off, I whispered, really softly, “Please.” I saw her lips tug into a very small, sad smile as she dropped her wrist and walked away.

I stared at her retreating figure, still paralyzed at what just happened. After a while, I unfroze and let my hand fall down, before walking back to my cabin.

What a day.

When I returned to my cabin, I shut the door quickly, and curled myself up into a ball in a corner.

I let silent tears fall down as I muttered “Idiot, idiot…” over and over. I was tempted to hide in my cabin for the rest of the day, which is what I usually do, but I heard the horn sound.

It was capture the flag today.

‘Maybe I’ll be on the same team as her.’ I thought.

I wiped the tears away from my eyes, picked up my sword, and walked to the door. I sighed heavily as I placed my hand on the door.

Then I muttered, “Now or never.” underneath my breath, and walked out.

When I got to the crowd, Chiron was setting the teams.

“Hermes, Hecate, Zeus, Hades, and Demeter cabin on the red team, Poseidon, Ares, Hephaestus, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Athena cabin on the blue team. To your positions!” he said.

I immediately looked towards Mira, and saw her shudder softly.

Right. She didn’t like the colour red.

Me and Mira were put on flag duty, which basically meant that we had a lot of free time. I led her to the flag, but she still refused to speak to me.

Once we reached the flag, I looked around to see if anyone had followed us. When I made sure the coast was clear, I turned to Mira, who was now sat atop a rock, next to the flag.

I knelt down in front of her, and she turned away from me. I knew she was sad, but I didn’t know why.

I put my sword on my belt, gently held her hands, which she didn’t resist, and asked her, “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and pulled her hands away from me.

I frowned and said, “Mira, something’s wrong. What’s wrong? Tell me. I can help you.”.

But still, she stubbornly shook her head, refusing to speak to me. Then the horn sounded again, and the game was on.

I stood up and put my hand on her shoulder, squeezed it slightly, and went to sit on another rock next to the flag. After some time, the enemy team was in our sights.

We stood up immediately, and I saw that we were losing. Badly.

The other team still had Percy, the Athena cabin, the Hephaestus cabin, the Apollo cabin and a couple of Ares kids.

And us? We had no reinforcements. Well, I couldn’t see any. I was just having the worst luck ever.

The Ares kids went straight for me, and I summoned some skeletons to aid me in fighting. Then the Apollo kids started firing arrows at Mira.

I wasn’t surprised when she successfully dodged all of them, and even deflected a couple of them. She wasn’t Queen of Dodgeball back at school for nothing.

But she had no way of defeating the Apollo kids, so I summoned a few skeletons behind them and they started to attack, along with Mira’s help.

Soon, the Ares and Apollo cabin were out. I saw Annabeth snap at Percy to stop daydreaming, and that the Hephaestus cabin were getting ready to throw Greek fire.

Just from the shear amount of people, I knew the two of us were going to suffer a lot.

Before the first jar of Greek fire was launched, a net made up of vines scooped up all the Hephaestus kids, and Annabeth and Leo said in unison, “Oh come _on_!”

I saw Travis, Conner and Katie standing there, with smug smirks on their faces. The Athena cabin started to attack the two of us, and Travis, Conner and Katie joined in to help us.

In no time, the entire Athena cabin was defeated, but we also lost Travis, Conner, and Katie.

So now it was me and Mira versus Percy. We can do this. Maybe.

“Percy! You can win this!” Annabeth shouted from the spectators stand.

Oh, this is just great. Of course people expected us to lose. I mean, a son of Hades and an unclaimed girl versus the son of Poseidon? Yeah, we’re toast.

“Bro! It’s a two v one! Good luck!” Jason shouted. See? Point proven.

Percy first went for me, and I dodged the attack.

Of course, take the relatively skilled one out first, so you can easily defeat the untrained person. How very nice of you.

Mira attacked from the other side, and we started to sandwich Percy.

For the 3 months that we’ve been together, the two of us have been synchronizing a lot, and now we could easily find each other’s rhythm.

Percy immediately retreated to the little puddle of water once he realized our strategy, and he charged at me. He aimed Riptide at me so suddenly, I couldn’t react in time.

A stretch of crimson was left on my arm.

Thank Gods I decided to leave my jacket out of this; otherwise it would’ve been damaged. Before I could think and react, and blinding pain hit me in the gut, causing me to lose my balance and fall back.

“Nico’s out!” people began shouting. I stood up and walked towards the spectators, while releasing colourful words and phrases under my breath.

Once I was in the safe zone, I saw that Mira’s eyes were wide in fear. Just like when we were facing the Minotaur.

“You can do this Mira!” Conner shouted. I silently prayed that Percy won’t cut her up too badly, and that she could win this fight.

She gulped, before charging in. Percy avoided her attack, and Riptide’s hilt found its mark on her back. She fell in the water face-first.

Gods… I hope she’s ok. I know she is. She’s a strong girl. _My_ strong girl.

Hmmm… I’ve never thought of her as _mine_ before, but the sound of it seemed good.

Percy waited for her to stand back up again, like the absolute gentlemen that he is, and said, “Be careful next time you charge at somebody.”

Of course. Why not coach her in the middle of a battle? Is there a better way to train than this? She nodded, before charging again.

Again, Percy dodged it, but this time, Mira’s reflexes sharpened. She swung her sword and smashed the hilt of it on Percy’s side.

I could tell that Percy’s natural battle instincts had taken over, because he started to fight a lot more viciously. As I observed the fight, I realized that Mira’s fighting style really didn’t seem… untrained.

Maybe Father was right. Maybe she knew she was a demigod and was just playing along.

As I was thinking, I saw Percy cut her arm and brought his blade up, cutting a line across her cheek. My feelings for her overtook as I snapped out of my thoughts and stared at the wound on her cheek.

She cradled her cheek in pain and staggered back, while Percy, being the gentlemen he is, said, “Sorry. Are you alright?”

Normally, Mira would’ve said something, but now, she lifted her head to look at Percy.

Percy took a few steps back, but I didn’t know what was wrong. The look on his face was pure shock and horror.

When I took a good look at Mira, I realized that her eyes were glowing aqua. I must say, I’ve known her for so long, and I’ve never seen that happen before.

But come to think of it, there _were_ some moments where her eyes seemed to glow…

She leap towards Percy in inhumane speed, and some campers wanted to rush forward to help Percy, but Chiron held them back.

Me, I was personally more worried about Mira getting hurt than Percy getting hurt.

He disarmed her using a clever trick of hitting a sweet spot on the wrist, and her sword went flying out of her hands. He bought Riptide’s blade down, and I immediately squeezed my eyes shut. I _did not_ want to see this.

But after a few seconds, I opened them again. Mira was holding onto Riptide’s blade, with her _bare hands_.

Then I noticed that her hands were glowing ice blue, and that there was a layer of ice spreading on Riptide. Percy pulled Riptide away from her hands, and inspected it for a while.

Was that genuine ice? If that is, then who _is_ her godly parent?

Percy struck again, and her arm had another wound. At that point, she lifted her hands, and water began rushing in, wanting to crush Percy.

So… she could control ice _and_ water? That didn’t seem fair.

The water came crashing down on him, making him lose his balance and fall down flat on his back.

At least he could breathe in there.

After the water cleared, Mira fell to her knees. Percy caught her before she hit the ground.

The campers ran towards them stood in a circle. Mira was clearly drained. She looked like she could pass out right now.

Then, Annabeth said, “P…Percy? There’s a tri…trident above your head…” I looked up, and there was a sea green trident on his head.

But hasn’t he been claimed already? Why is Poseidon claiming him again? Then another trident appeared, but above Mira’s head.

I was too shocked to say or do anything. My jaw fell open as I stared at the trident above her head.

Wh…what?!

Everyone remained silent, and Chiron broke it by saying, “Hail, Mirabelle Jackson. Daughter of Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses, Sister of Perseus Jackson.”

People started getting down to their knees, and so did I.

I just… couldn’t believe it. I mean, I’ve had my suspicions before, but I never thought that they were real.

Then the trident disappeared, and before I could stand up, another symbol appeared above her head.

Two symbols… That was very rare. Actually, I’ve never seen it before.

An ice blue snowflake glowed above her head, and Chiron said, “Legacy of Khione, Goddess of Ice and Snow.”

If I wasn’t shocked enough before, I was now.

Daughter of Poseidon, legacy of Khione… Wow. I was lost for words.

Then I saw her turn unconscious as Percy picked her up, and people started getting to their feet. They made way for Percy as he walked past them, but they were whispering amongst themselves.

“Legacy of Khione? Does that mean she’s bad? I heard from Piper that Khione was bad.”

“Another child of the Big Three? Gods, we are in so much trouble now.”

“Did you see her eyes? They were glowing when she was mad.”

“I guess we now know why the faucet was frozen yesterday.”

Wait. A faucet was frozen yesterday? I looked towards the person who said this, and found out it was a Hermes kid.

What happened? I wanted to know. But I had to return to my cabin first.

Once I got back, I collapsed on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Then I heard Hazel and Piper walk past my cabin, gossiping.

“You know, yesterday night, she accused Nico of stealing her wallet.”

“Wait. That was the same girl?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, did her eyes glow?”

“No… But I heard that Nico knows her for about 3 months already.”

“3 months?! Wow that’s really dangerous! Imagine her going all Khione on Nico! He could be danger!”

“I know. But I don’t know how to tell him to stay away from her.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re really good friends, and the only person, aside from me, that Nico trusts. I’m just… really afraid that something will happen to him because of her.”

“No worries, Haz. We’ll watch out for Nico. He’ll be safe.”

“Thanks, Pipes.”

And off they went.

To be honest, I was a little heartbroken. The Mira I knew isn’t dangerous. She’s the sweetest and the kindest person I’ve ever met. She’s just afraid of her own powers, that’s all. She needs to learn how to use them.

And I know that she won’t hurt me. She can't, and she won’t.

I sat in my cabin until it was dinner time, and went to the Infirmary to check on her.

The other patients were already out, as the wounds they got were light. Meaning that Mira was the only person in the Infirmary, and she was unconscious.

I walked right up to her bed, pulled up a chair, and sat next to her.

She looked so…perfect. It was almost as if she was sleeping peacefully.

I felt a smile tug at my lips, and I brushed her hair away from her face.

It was still in a braid, her signature hairstyle. I gently held her hand and sighed, while cupping her cheek.

The line Percy drew on there had almost completely vanished, probably due to water healing.

I brought her hand to my lips and pressed a gentle kiss there.

I sat there for a very long time, and the longer I looked at her, the prettier she became.

Then her hand started moving. I immediately looked at her, and found that she was waking up.

I allowed myself a relieved smile, and released her hand.

Once she was fully up, I couldn’t resist myself.

“Morning, Starshine.”

She looked at me, confused, before she yawned, “Morning, Death Boy.”

“Had a good sleep?”

“Mmm…”

“Now can you tell me what’s wrong?” I asked.

She remained silent for a while, before saying, “Can we get to some place more… private?”

I nodded, and helped her up. She was still a little unsteady on her feet, but I propped her up and she leaned on me.

“My sword… Where is it…” she asked.

“Maybe in your pocket?” I suggested.

If the sword has the same properties as Riptide, then it would re-appear in her pocket.

She reached down and pat her pocket, before nodding, “It’s there.”

We then walked to the Hades cabin, and once we were in, I closed the door.

She already sat down on my bed, and was nervously fiddling with her fingers.

“Hey.” I said, sitting down next to her. I held her hands, and she looked at me. “Don't be afraid, ok? Tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll help you.”

She gave me those puppy eyes that could melt me, before putting her head on my shoulder.

I wrapped one arm around her shoulder and soothed her, so that she could get a little more comfortable. She took my other hand and started twisting on my skull ring.

I couldn’t help but huff softly at that. It was just so adorable.

“Well, yesterday, when I got back to the Hermes cabin, I decided to take a shower. Then, after I finished my shower, I reached towards the faucet and turned it off, as usual. But… But instead of turning off, a layer of ice formed on it. I…I was so scared. I…I didn’t know what to do. I tried prying the ice off, or using hot water to melt the ice, but none of it worked. Luckily no one noticed that I was taking a shower, so I was able to get back out there and lay on my bed like nothing happened.”

“How long did you lay on your bed?”

“Until I woke up in the morning?”

Oh. So what I saw yesterday was her during her aftershocks. No wonder.

I nodded silently, and said, “Well you’re not freezing my hand now, so maybe you could still control you powers. What were you thinking when you turned the faucet off?”

She looked away from me, and her cheeks turned bright pink. I felt like a puddle at this point.

“What is it?” I asked. She bit her bottom lip, and her cheeks turned red. Scratch that last statement, I feel like dying now.

“Th…the…k…ki…kiss…y…you…a…almos…almost…g…gave…m…me…” she whispered. It was now my turn to blush.

“Well it wasn’t _that_ bad, was it?” I teased.

She shied away even more, but her cheeks kept flaring. She really was lovely.

Then I felt something cold creeping up my hand. I looked down, and found out that my hand was getting a new coating of ice.

I pulled my hand away from hers, and asked, “So, are you certain that there is _no way_ that the ice is coming off?”

“Well,” she replied. “I heard that the Stoll’s ran a lot boiling water over the ice in order to melt it. Why?”

“Oh this is just great.”

She turned around and looked at my frozen hand, and burst out laughing.

“Oh sure. Very funny. Ha ha ha.” I muttered.

Her laughter was just like bells clinking together, mixed with the sparkle of stars and silvery pearls.

I walked to the bathroom and turned on the hot water tap, and put my poor, freezing hand underneath it. She came in, with tears visible in the corner of her eyes.

“Oh my gods, that was probably the best thing I have seen all day.” She said, while wiping a tear away.

I glared at her, and she sat down on the edge of the bathtub.

“Here. If I can freeze things, then surely I can unfreeze them, right?” She took my hand, closed her eyes, and focused. Her hands began to glow ice blue, and I felt warmth returning to my hand. Once she opened her eyes, the ice was gone.

“I think that when you lose focus on your powers, you start freezing things randomly.”

“Or maybe when I’m mad or embarrassed?” she suggested.

“Could be.”

“I think I won’t freeze your hand now, right?” she asked, as she touched my other hand. No ice formed there.

“Let’s get back.” I said, turning off the tap and drying my hand. She nodded, went back out and laid on my bed.

I sat beside her, and started twisting small strands of her hair. She huffed softly, before sitting straight up. She put her head on my shoulder, and started twisting my ring again.

I wrapped my free arm around her and rested my head on hers, while watching her.

After a while, I couldn’t help myself.

I bought my hand up, held her chin with two fingers, and twisted her head to look at me.

The look she gave me was so innocent and so childlike I swore I could’ve died a little.

Then I came forwards and saw her lips part, feeling her breath on my lips. She wasn’t resisting, so I took it as a yes.

I pressed my lips to hers, and I think I died.

Her lips were soft and warm, and I couldn’t help but groan. I heard her whimper a small bit, but I kept my other hand firmly on her back.

I wasn’t even registering what was going on, I only knew that I liked it.

I felt my teeth brush past her bottom lip, and I took it in between my teeth and gently tugged on it.

I opened my eyes to look at her, and she also opened hers to look at me.

I felt her arms moving, as she closed the gap between us, closed her eyes, and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I let my hand fall from her chin and let it wrap around her fully, and we stayed like that for gods know how long.

It felt like hours, days, months, eternity.

Once we parted, she opened her eyes and looked at me.

If a person could die more than once, then I’m pretty sure I’ve already died at least 10 times.

We sat there, looking into each other’s eyes, until I whispered, “You should probably return to your cabin.”

“What if I don’t want to? What if I want to stay here?” she whispered back.

I held her tighter and said, “Percy will be looking for you. You should go back.”

She pulled away from the hug and said, “Did you just kiss me?”

“I think so.”

“What did you see in me?”

“A gentle, sweet, caring, and kind little girl. Who’s also kinda beautiful.”

“Heh.”

“Was I wrong?”

“Nope, but a little cheesy though.”

“Good enough.”

“Death Boy?”

“Yes?”

“I like you.”

“I love you.”

I pressed another kiss to her forehead, as she stood up and left the cabin.

I watched her back as she left, and 10 seconds after she left, I began to freak out.

Did I just _kiss her_?! Did I just say _I love you_?! What am I doing?!

Did that really just happened?!

It wasn’t a dream, was it. Oh Gods it wasn’t a dream. Oh Gods I _did_ kiss her!

Holy Hera! Oh my Gods… Why did I do that?!

Nico di Angelo you’re such an idiot…

Did she say _I like you_? She did, didn’t she.

That means that she actually likes me! She _actually_ likes me!

Oh my Gods! Oh Gods I need to calm down.

Should I’ve told her to leave? Should I’ve told her to stay?

Should I run after her and tell her to stay with me? What should I do now?

Should I go to the Poseidon cabin and find her? Wait Percy’s there too.

WHAT IN TARTARUS DO I DO NOW?!

After probably 5 minutes of internal panicking, I calmed down, told myself everything was going to be alright, and surprisingly, fell into a deep and peaceful slumber.


	8. We sneak out for a quest

**Mira’s POV**

* * *

 

I walked back to the Poseidon cabin, and found Percy sitting on the couch, elbow on his knees and head buried in his palms.

“Hey…” I said weakly. It still felt weird, the fact that I’m not actually an orphan.

I’ve lived my whole life believing that I was an unwanted child, that I had no family.

But now, I have a family. I don’t know if I’ll ever be accepted into this new family. Probably not though.

I sat next to Percy and put my hand on his shoulder, attempting to sooth him. Percy lifted his head and looked at me. There were tears in his eyes.

Oh gods, why is he crying? Is it because of me?

Then, he croaked, “Mira… I…” and stopped. I let my hand fall down from his shoulder and looked down.

“Mira, I’m glad to be your brother.” He said, after moments of silence. I looked at him, and he held my hands. “I promise I’ll protect you, at all costs. I promise I’ll always be there for you, and that you’ll never be lonely again. I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you again, ever.”

The sincere look in his eyes stunned me. I never thought that someone would say this to me.

So, I said, “Percy, I…I don’t know what to say.”

He smiled slightly and said, “Mira, I won’t be a great big brother, but I’ll do my best. I’ll do my best to make you feel at home.”

_At home_. These were two words that I’ve never thought I’d hear. I nodded, as tears fell down my cheek.

He lifted his hand and brushed away my tears, and shushed, “Shhhh… Don’t cry. I have no idea what to do when girls cry. And I _hate_ seeing you cry.”

I giggled and smiled, and he returned with the same goofy grin he always wore. Then, he hugged me, and I hugged him back.

For that moment, I felt something. Something I only felt when I was around Nico. I don’t know how to describe it, but it felt really _really_ good.

I think I felt… _safe_.

Safe from reality, safe from all the monsters trying to hunt me down. Safe in my brother’s arms, safe at home.

Then, he pulled away from the hug, and said, “Well, want to go meet my friends?”

I nodded, sniffed, and stood up. He led me to the training arena, and approached a bunch of kids that were fighting and trash talking each other.

“Come on, Grace! That’s all you’ve got?!” A boy with brown, unkempt hair laughed.

“Take this, Valdez!” said a blond boy with glasses. He lunged at the Valdez kid and rammed him off the cliff, going down himself.

I stared in shock and horror, and was about to say what happened to them when the blond kid held the brown haired kid by the back of his collar and _flew_ up.

He can fly?! Now that’s just unfair.

“Haz! Watch your back!” a rather pretty girl with reddish brown hair shouted. A girl with hazel curly hair spun and blocked the incoming blow with her golden sword.

Nice sword colour, but I still think my silver sword has a better colour.

Haz… That sounds like Hazel! Is she Nico’s half-sister?

“Thanks for the warning, Pipes!” she shouted. Pipes… Sounds like Piper, the girl Nico was afraid of.

“Bring it, Zhang!” Annabeth shouted. I saw her facing a rather bulky looking guy, and judging by the last name, I’m guessing he’s Asian.

“Alright, Chase.” He smirked, and morphed into a bear.

He can shapeshift?! Not fair! _Not fair **at all**_!!!

I also saw a girl with yellowish-orange hair sitting aside, observing the fight.

Then, someone called out, “Come on, Jackson! Fighting or not?” I immediately turned and saw the blond guy flying towards us. The battle stopped there, and everyone turned to look at us.

Percy flung his arm over my shoulder and said, “Guys, this is my sister, Mirabelle. Mira, the Seven.”

“The Seven? You guys have a team name?” I asked.

“Nah, the gods just gave it to us cause we were the seven chosen ones.” Brown-haired guy said.

“Done calming down, Seaweed Brain?” Annabeth asked.

Percy nodded, and blond guy said, “Let’s talk in your cabin, shall we?”

Percy nodded again, and they sheathed their weapons and followed us back into the Poseidon cabin. Once we were in, I sat down on the couch, next to Percy.

“We should start introducing ourselves. Hi, I’m Jason Grace. Son of Jupiter. Or Zeus, as you would call him.” Blond guy said.

I nodded, and Reddish-brown haired girl said, “Hi, names Piper. Piper Mclean. Daughter of Aphrodite.”

“That explains why you’re so pretty.” I whispered. Piper must’ve heard me, because she immediately beamed.

“Leo Valdez, hottest man alive. Son of Hephaestus.” Brown-haired guy said, and extended his hand.

I took it and was about to shake it when he said, “Oh yeah. I also have a tendency to burst into flames…AHHHHH!!!” as he was engulfed in flames.

I screamed and jumped back, accidentally releasing a spray of ice in his direction.

“LEO!” Yellowish-orange haired girl screeched, and hit Leo on the back of his head with a frying pan.

“Owww…” he complained.

I was curled up on the couch, snuggled up next to Percy, and Leo said, “Yeah, I can control fire. Don’t worry, that was a prank. But _wow_! That ice you shot from your hands, _ice cold, baby_.”

I immediately blushed and looked the other direction.

“Calypso, Daughter of Atlas.” Yellowish-orange haired girl said.

“Wait. Atlas? As in _hold-up-the-sky-Titan_ Atlas?” I asked.

Calypso nodded and said, “Yeah. That’s my dad.”

“Hazel, Hazel Levesque. Daughter of Pluto. Or Hades.” Hazel-curly-haired girl said.

‘Nico’s half-sister.’ I thought.

“Frank Zhang, Son of Mars, or Ares.” The Asian shapeshifter said. “

What can you turn into?” I asked.

Frank blushed and said, “Well, the biggest thing I’ve turned into was a dragon.”

“A dragon?! That’s so cool!” I exclaimed.

“Yeah, sometimes he turns into random things and random times, so I have to be _very_ careful when it comes to killing insects I find randomly in the cabins.” Hazel joked.

Frank looked absolutely embarrassed, and I chuckled lightly.

Then, I decided to say something. I’m not sure if it was the right time, but I wanted to say it, so I said it.

“I’m hungry.”

All of them turned to look at me, before Percy said, “Hi hungry, I’m Percy.”

I slapped his arm lightly, before he burst into laughter.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and said, “Why do I even know you.”

Percy wrapped his arm around Annabeth and kissed her temple, causing me to think about the kiss me and Nico just had a few minutes ago.

“Come on, let’s see what we have in the pantry.” Jason said, as he went into a room and opened cabinets.

“Let’s see……CHIPS!” he shouted excitedly. He took the chips back out and opened it, only for me to snatch it and claim it for myself. Jason just stood there, and stared at me.

“Wow.” He said.

“You have _very_ good reflexes.” Piper commented.

I smiled, and Percy said, “She saw past the Stoll’s first trick already.”

“Wow, really? I remember I was pranked quite hard when I first came here.” Calypso said.

“It’s getting late… Shouldn’t we be sleeping?” Hazel asked.

I nodded, and Percy just said, “Sleep? Nah…” and that earned him a slap on the arm from Annabeth.

“I’m tired.” I complained.

Percy immediately shot up from the couch and screamed, “Ok, everybody out! My sister needs to sleep!”

 Annabeth laughed and said, “You don't even do that for me!” I blushed as I put the bag of chips aside and took my backpack.

After Percy closed the door, I asked, “So… where am I sleeping?”

Percy scratched his head, “Well, it _should_ magically appear, and… Oh, there it is.”

A blue door appeared out of nowhere, and I opened it.

The walls were in navy blue and snowflakes decorated it. The ceiling was painted as a galaxy, and little silver stars dotted across.

“Wow, I really like your room.” Percy exclaimed.

I chuckled and said, “Thanks. I like it too.”

“Well, you should take a shower and sleep, you still have to train tomorrow.”

“Ok! Goodnight, brother!”

“Goodnight, sister.” Percy closed the door behind him as he exited.

I plopped down on the bed, and allowed myself to relish in the softness of the mattress.

When I finally sat back up, I went to take a shower, and found out that all the shampoo lotions were sea scented. Even the scented candles that I found lying in a cabinet were sea scented.

When I got back out of the shower, I realized that I didn’t bring my pajamas. So instead, I wore the exact same clothes I wore these days.

I collapsed back on bed, but I couldn’t sleep. My mind was still replaying the kiss that me and Nico had, and the fact that I was being hunted down didn’t make it seem any pleasanter.

So I decided to do something absolutely crazy.

I waited until I was sure that Percy was asleep, made sure that my pen, which had the word _Glacier_ carved on it was in my pocket, and I snuck out of the Poseidon cabin.

Where was I going? The one place I knew. The Hades cabin.

When I reached the cabin, I noticed that the curtains were drawn, and that it was completely dark inside.

Was he asleep? I don’t know. Only one way to find out.

So I reached for the handle and twisted it, only to realize that it was locked.

“Dam it…” I muttered. There’s got to be something I can use to pick a lock, right?

Oh yeah, I kept a bobby pin in all of my pockets just in case things like this happen.

I pulled one out of my hoodie pocket, fitted it into the lock, and started twisting the bobby pin around.

I had quite the experience in picking locks, and let me tell you. They are _not_ as easy as they seem in the movies.

The only reason I learnt how to pick locks was because sometimes I would get grounded at the orphanage, and I would pick the lock to get out. And also they lock the cabinets in the kitchen every night.

After a while of twisting and turning the bobby pin, a soft ‘click’ was heard. I smiled slightly as I discarded the bobby pin and opened the door.

As I closed the door behind me, I realized that he was asleep.

Whoops.

I walked over to the windows and pulled the curtains apart, allowing _some_ light to come through.

That’s when I saw him, lying on his bed, sleeping peacefully. I sat next to him and ran my fingers through his hair.

I’ve always wanted to do that. His hair was everything I imagined it to be: soft, and _super_ smooth.

Gods, does he use conditioner? What type of conditioner does he use?

His hair is even softer than mine…

After a few strokes, I decided it might be best if I left without him. But it would be so hard…

I sighed softly before giving him a kiss on the forehead and stood up. Before I could turn and leave, I felt a foreign weight on my wrist.

I turned back and saw that Nico was holding my wrist, and was also frowning slightly.

I smiled and sat back down, running my fingers through his hair once again. He grumbled something I couldn’t make out before he finally opened his eyes.

His dark eyes were still coated with a fresh layer of drowsiness, and he looked so adorable like this.

“Morning, Starshine.” He mumbled.

“It’s not even morning!” I laughed, before saying, “Morning, Death Boy.”

He smiled slightly, before hooking an arm underneath my knees and making me lie next to him.

He released my knees once I was lying down, and wrapped that arm around my waist.

“What are you doing here?” he asked softly. I really wanted this moment to last forever.

“Can't sleep.” I mumbled, as I occupied myself with his hair.

He shook his head and said, “Is my hair really _that_ interesting?”

I nodded in response, and he chuckled, “Why are you _really_ here.” He knows me too well.

I smiled, and said, “I want to sneak out.”

At that, he bolted upright, and stared at me like I was crazy.

“What?! Out of camp?” he asked.

I nodded again, and he sighed, “Where are you going.”

I shrugged and said, “I don't know. I just have an urge to find that helm.”

“What?! You must be going crazy.”

“I always was.”

“Mira, listen. You _can't_ just sneak out of camp like that! You’ll get killed! Did you forget about the monsters that chased us here?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten them. But still, I really want to find it! It would be better than sitting here, waiting for my doom!”

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I want you to come with me.” I said, and he looked up slowly.

“Alright. I’ll come along. Just let me get ready first.” He got up and went to the shower, as I laid back in his bed.

Soon, the sound of running water hitting the floor filled the cabin. I felt an unusual wake of tiredness hit me, I curled up on my side and fell asleep.

I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep for, but I know that I woke up to Nico shaking me slightly and saying, “If you prefer sleeping, then we can just forget sneaking out.”

“No…” I immediately groaned, and rolled sideways so my back hit the mattress.

He stared at me for a while before he said, “Come on, are we leaving or not?”

I groaned and rolled sideways again, facing away from him, and he placed his hand on my waist.

“Come on, Mira. You came to me, and you know _perfectly_ well that I could just let your plans go to waste, right?” he whispered in my ear.

The way he spoke, that rich, deep, dark tone sent shivers down my spine. I felt his eyes on my back, and something warm collided with my back.

I opened my eyes slightly to realize that he was wrapping around me like a cocoon. I snuggled up against him and he wrapped his arms tighter around me.

“Going or not? I’m fine with not going.” He said.

I chuckled and push out of the hug, saying, “Yeah, we’re going.”

He rolled his eyes and said, “You always make up your mind at the worst possible times.”

“Not true at all!”

“Oh sure.”

“Come on, give me an example where I make my mind at the worst possible time.”

“Will _right now_ do?”

“How is _now_ a bad time to make up my mind?”

“Oh forget it.”

“Alright, whatever.”

I put my hand on the handle of his door, before he asked, “By the way, how did you get in here? I'm pretty sure I locked the door before I slept…”

I smirked and said, “I picked your lock.”

I didn’t have to turn around to see that he was staring at me in shock.

I opened the door, looked back and said, “Coming?”

He walked up to me, and pulled me back in the cabin, while reaching over and closing the door.

I looked at him in confusion. What was he doing?

He leaned forwards, said, “Just in case we can't do this during our quest.” And kissed me again.

I immediately wrapped my arms around his neck and returned his kiss. Then, his arm hooked one of my legs from underneath and wrapped it around his waist.

Good thing that I was flexible, he was so tall. Well, for me anyways.

Compare him to Percy, and he would seem like a child.

It wasn’t long before he hooked my other leg and brought it to his waist, completely lifting me off the ground.

He then pressed me lightly to the door, rocking into me slightly, due to the motion. I wrapped my legs firmly around his waist and he placed both hands on my waist and back.

I felt his hands slip underneath my shirt, and I sharply inhaled. The feeling of his bare hands on my bare waist was just so…so… nice…

My hands unconsciously began running down his chest, and _that_ was when I first felt the hidden muscles he had. I had no idea what was going on.

My judgment was getting hazy, I felt absolutely drunk, and I couldn’t tell what was happening.

I think I felt something running in my mouth, I rolled my head back and it hit the door with a soft ‘thump’.

He came closer, and his chest hit mine.

We both parted for air, and that’s when I saw the light blush on his cheeks. His lips were swollen, and I was pretty sure mine was as well.

“Nico…” I whispered.

“Mira…” he whispered back. He was panting lightly, and so was I.

“We should… we should go…” I gulped.

He nodded and knelt down, letting my feet touch the floor. I stood straight and swayed a little, Nico held me by the shoulders to steady me.

I turned around and opened the door, he followed me through.

We walked past the Dining Pavilion, and before we walked out of the gates, someone behind me said, “Mira?”

I spun around and saw Percy, holding a cup of water. He might’ve just came out of the Pavilion.

My eyes widened immediately, and I froze at the spot.

I couldn’t move, I couldn’t speak. At that moment, I felt guilty.

This was the man that turned out to be my long lost brother, and he had promised to make me feel safe, to make me feel at home. Now I was abandoning him, again.

“Percy I’m so sorry please listen…” I said desperately as I walked to him.

He threw the cup of water into a nearby bush and enveloped me in a hug.

He released me, and said to Nico, “Nico, protect her. Please. Don’t let anything happen to her. Promise me.”

Nico froze, before saying, “I promise you.”

Then Percy turned to me and said, “Stay safe. Be careful out there. I don’t know where you’re going, but there _will_ be monsters after you. Remember to IM me every night, ok? I’ll be waiting for you. Don’t make me worry too much though. Annabeth said that I have a tendency to go insane when I’m worried.”

“Ok Percy.” I said.

He gave me a kiss on the forehead and said, “I never saw you guys, ok?”

My lips tugged into a small smile.

“Goodbye, brother.”

His back was to me now, said, “Goodbye, sister.” And walked away.

Nico took my hand and led me out through the gates.

After a while of walking, he said, “So, do you know where to go?” I didn’t think we’d get so far, so I didn’t really have a plan.

“Um…I think we should go to the Underworld first. After all, the helm _is_ located in the Underworld, and so maybe the thief hid the helm there.”

“But maybe the thief already took the helm _away_ from the Underworld.”

“Uh, well, that _is_ a possibility… Do you have any suspects for thievery?”

“Hermes.”

“Nico!”

“What?”

“Be serious!”

“I _am_ serious!”

“No you’re not!”

“Gods can steal other gods stuff!”

I glared at him and tried to talk back, but I couldn’t. After all, he _did_ have a point.

“All right. But Hermes isn’t that kind of guy, is he?”

“You never know. Gods tend to be unpredictable.” He replied. True.

“But the Underworld _is_ easier to access, right? For you? So I think we should go to the Underworld first, just to make sure. And possibly find some tracks.” I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose again, a gesture I’ve come to recognize as ‘oh-gods-why-am-I-agreeing-to-this-you’re-such-an-idiot-Mira’.

“Now how do we get to the Underworld?” I asked.

“Well, I _could_ tell Jules-Albert to drive us to the gates of the Underworld.”

“Who is Jules-Albert?”

“A zombie chauffer my father gave to me as a sorry attempt of making up for all the time he spent away from me.”

“Oh… Ok…So… Why aren’t you doing it?”

“Because we still need to get some drachmas for Charon _and_ get something for Cerberus.”

“Charon… the ferryman?”

“Yes.”

“Can’t you just tell him to give us a free pass? After all, you _are_ Hades’ son.”

“Mira, it doesn’t work like that. I may be able to convince him to let us through as the living, but he will still charge us drachmas.”

“That sucks.” I pouted. “And for Cerberus?”

“We need to get something for him to play with, or to distract him.”

“He’s the three-headed dog, right?”

“Correct.”

“So should we get some dog toys? He _is_ a dog, after all.”

“I’m not sure if that’ll work, though.”

“Everything’s worth a try!”

“Oh Gods…”

“Come on! Call your chauffeur and let’s go to the nearest ATM machine for drachmas!”

“There are _no_ ATM machines for drachmas.”

“So… We have to steal?” My eyes lit up at that. Something about stealing makes me feel so excited.

“Yes.”

“But where? Olympus?” I joked.

He looked at me strangely, and said, “I was thinking of Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know. But Percy did tell me a story of how he got an entire pouch of golden drachmas from a fountain there.”

“Sweet! Let’s go! We have an old lady to rob!”

He huffed lightly and said, “I have to summon Jules-Albert first.”

I looked at him and asked, “Ok… So… Should I stand back?”

“If you want to.” He shrugged. I backed up into nearby tree, watching him closely. He closed his eyes for a moment, and a slick black limo rose from the ground.

“Whoa.” I said, after the limo rose.

He opened the door, smirked, and said, “After you, my lady.”

I giggled, curtsied, and said, “Thanks.” before getting in.

Nico got in and said, “Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium.”

The car engine started, and I said, “How long is it to get to the Emporium?”

Nico thought for a while, and a voice said, “About 3 hours if we’re driving normally. But if we’re not, then 1 and a half hours.”

“Not driving normally?” I asked.

Nico explained, “We can pass through other cars, because mortals can’t see us.”

“Can we drive past the speed limit?” I asked. I’ve always wondered what it would feel like if we drove past the speed limit.

“Yes.” The voice said. I assumed it was Jules-Albert, as he was the only one here aside from the two of us.

“Let’s go past the speed limit!” I squealed in excitement.

Nico wrapped his arm around my waist and said, “Calm down, we should get some rest. We need to face anything that comes for us, and we can’t do it if all we want to do is sleep.”

“Fine.” I pouted.

I rested my head on his shoulders as the car started to go, and I fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

**Nico’s POV**

* * *

 

I didn’t know how long I slept for, but what I _do_ know is that I woke up to something running through my hair.

I didn’t have the energy or strength to open my eyes just yet, so I stayed still.

Staying still might be one of the thing that separate me from other demigods, like Percy and Leo. Sure, we all have ADHD, but comparatively, I’m the least ADHD out of almost everyone.

I heard a soft sigh and something warm touch my forehead. Then the mattress seemed to rise and my first instinct was to grab at whatever was there, though I had an idea of who it might be.

The mattress sank again, and the scent of sea salt hit my nose.

I grumbled, “Gods fucking damnit…” and opened my eyes slightly, to see a _very_ pretty blond girl sitting next to me. It just _had_ to be her, didn’t it?

Before I could process what was happening, I mumbled, “Morning, Starshine.”

“It’s not even morning!” she said while laughing. “Morning, Death Boy.”

I just processed what happened, and I didn’t know what to do. But I really wanted her to lie down next to me, so I reached down and hooked her knees, and turned her so she was now laying right next to me.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, and buried my face in her neck.

“What are you doing here?” I mumbled, while inhaling her scent. The Poseidon cabin _loved_ their sea scented items, and I never realized how much I loved the smell of sea salt.

Well, not _purely_ sea salt. It was mixed with a smell of wild flowers, which I really love.

“Can't sleep.” Was the response, before fingers started attacking my hair again. Something about that motion just made my skin crawl.

“Is my hair really _that_ interesting?” I asked. I felt her head nod, and I chuckled, “Why are you _really_ here.”

She would never come to me just because she couldn’t sleep.

“I want to sneak out.”

At that, I bolted upright, my eyes flew wide open, and stared at her.

Did I hear her correctly? She wanted to sneak out?! What in Tartarus was she thinking?!

“What?! Out of camp?”

She nodded, and I knew there was absolutely nothing I could do to change her mind.

“Where are you going.” I asked. Hopefully she would just want to go back to her orphanage, but I knew this wasn’t what she wanted.

“I don't know. I just have an urge to find that helm.”

What?! Finding the helm?! My _Father_ is out for her blood! I _can’t_ just let her go out like that!

“What?! You must be going crazy.” I was holding back the urge to scream, and I think I was doing quite a good job.

“I always was.”

Oh Gods… My head started to fill with the thoughts of ‘My crazy little goddess’. It sounded good on her, but now is _not_ the time.

“Mira, listen. You _can't_ just sneak out of camp like that! You’ll get killed! Did you forget about the monsters that chased us here?” Like the Minotaur, the Furies? There could be more! And I haven’t even told you about the empousai that was at our school!

“No, I haven’t forgotten them. But still, I really want to find it! I would be better than sitting here, waiting for my doom!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. After being with her for so long, I knew there was nothing I could do to make her change her mind once she’s made it up.

“I want you to come with me.” I looked up and stared at her. I have to come with her.

“Alright. I’ll come along. Just let me get ready first.” I went into the shower and turned on the tap.

Whilst in the shower, I kept thinking of how _bad_ of an idea this was, and how to talked her out of it. However, I knew that it was merely impossible to do so.

She was extremely stubborn, just like Percy.

When I got back out, I found her sleeping on my bed. My lips tugged to form a slight smile, and as I was walking over to her, I heard whispers.

Whispers that were coming from my closet. Shivers went down my spine. The dagger was whispering to me.

I suddenly had a temptation to bring it along, just in case. But I also didn’t want to.

What if I was wrong, and she was really a thief? And what if I was right, but I killed her? Either way would hurt me at the very end.

So I walked to the closet, opened my hidden drawer, took the black dagger out, and hid it in my pocket.

Of course, I wrapped it in cloth, so it wouldn’t make a hole in my pocket. Then I walked over to her, sat on the bed, and stared to shake her slightly.

After a while, I said, “If you prefer sleeping, then we can just forget sneaking out.”

“No…” she groaned, and rolled sideways. She even looked pretty when she was frowning. Gods, I’m going insane.

I took a deep breath and said, “Come on, are we leaving or not?” She groaned once more and rolled back on her side.

My eyes softened and I placed my hand on her waist.

“Come on, Mira. You came to me, and you know _perfectly_ well that I could just let your plans go to waste, right?” I whispered in her ear.

I meant it in a teasing manner, but the way my voice came out sounded absolutely _wrong_.

It came out _too_ deep for teasing. Too… _sincere_.

I saw her shuddering slightly and I couldn’t help but stare at her. I couldn’t resist myself, and I got on bed with her, wrapping around her like a cocoon.

My arms went around her waist and I pressed her back to my chest. She shifted closed to me and I curled my arms tighter around her.

“Going or not? I’m fine with not going.” I said.

She pushed out of the hug and said, “Yeah, we’re going.”

Oh gods… Why does she _have_ to make up her mind at the worst times possible?!

“You always make up your mind at the worst possible times.” I said, while rolling my eyes.

“Not true at all!”

“Oh sure.”

“Come on, give me an example where I make my mind at the worst possible time.”

“Will _right now_ do?”

“How is _now_ a bad time to make up my mind?”

She is _way_ too innocent. Does she not understand how much I want her right now?

“Oh forget it.”

“Alright, whatever.”

She was already at the door. As I stared at her back, I suddenly remembered something. I locked the door when I slept!

“By the way, how did you get in here? I'm pretty sure I locked the door before I slept…”

I could imagine her smirking as she said, “I picked your lock.”

Gods… I should’ve known. She would always get her way, and when there was an obstacle, she would do _anything_ to make it so that she would get what she wants.

She turned around and I saw amusement twinkle in her eyes.

The way the moonlight shone on her body, the way her shadow was cast in my cabin was too perfect to be real.

To be honest, I was kind of waiting for the moment that I would wake up from this dream, because it may not be real. So I decided to take advantage of this moment.

I walked up to her in a few strides, held her wrist, pulled her back in and closed the door. She cocked her head to the side and looked at me curiously.

Sometimes I wonder if she even realizes that her head turns sideways whenever she’s confused. I had to do this before this might-be dream ends.

I leaned forwards, said, “Just in case we can't do this during our quest.” And kissed her again. I might never get sick of kissing her.

I felt her arms wrap around my neck and her lips started moving against mine. Then, I lowered my arm and hooked one of her legs. I’ve always thought of doing this, maybe in a bit more detail then I should’ve.

I brought it to my waist, and thank the gods she was flexible enough. After that, a pit of fire started in the bottom of my stomach. I was trying my best to control myself now, and I think I’m doing quite a good job.

It wasn’t long before I hooked the other leg around my waist, and suddenly I had the full weight of her on my arms. I didn’t know what was happening, but I had one, single, clear thought in my head.

I couldn’t let her fall. She was _very_ light, but as I just woke up a few minutes ago, my arms still haven’t returned strength.

I had to press her to the door in order to keep her up, but I didn’t want to push too hard, in case it hurt her.

But I might’ve taken a step too close, because our hips accidentally collided. She unconsciously gasped, and I immediately backed away slightly.

I wanted her, but I had to take it slow. It was getting more and more difficult to control myself as the seconds ticked past.

I had to find a way to control myself, without scaring her too much. I allowed my hands to slide down to her waist and slip inside her shirt.

It felt a lot better than I imagined. I imagined her skin to be soft and smooth, and now that I was actually touching it, it was everything I imagined it to be, and much more.

Words couldn’t describe how I felt right now.

She gasped as I ran my hands on the plane of her stomach, and I had to bite back a groan.

I had to bite the groan back even more when I felt soft hands touch my chest, and ran down. I felt her fingers run past every single muscle of my body, and before she could get any lower than the upper part of my chest, I licked the seam of her lips.

Her lips parted, and I put my tongue in her mouth. I rolled it over the entire expanse of her mouth, and I felt a soft moan escape her throat.

Her head started to roll back and hit the door with a soft ‘thump’. I wanted to pepper every inch of her now exposed neck with kisses, and so I took a step forwards, allowing our chests to meet.

I wanted to continue kissing, but I was slowly running out of air. I waited until I could hold no longer and parted for air.

Her eyes opened slowly and they were extremely glassy and dreamy. There was the slightest patch of pink on her pale skin, and she couldn’t look prettier than she is now.

“Nico…” she whispered.

For a few seconds, I couldn’t speak. The words caught at my throat, and eventually I managed to croak out, “Mira…”

I felt heat on my cheeks, and I was panting lightly with desire. With an aching passion I didn’t understand. And I was slightly afraid.

I felt her soft, warm breaths on my lips and before I could decide what to do next, she whispered, “We should… we should go…”

I had to control myself before I did anything rash. So I nodded and knelt down until her feet touched the floor.

She stood up straight and nearly tumbled back down. I was terrified of her falling, so my first instinct was to grab her at her shoulders to steady her.

She then turned around and opened the door, I followed without a sound. I was afraid that if I said something, I would ruin everything we had.

When we were about to reach the gates, a familiar voice behind us said, “Mira?”

I saw Mira spin and look back, and I turned my head to look at the direction the sound came from.

It was Percy, with a cup of water in his hand. We had two choices now.

1, which was to bribe Percy to let us go, and not to tell the others, and 2, was to grab her wrist and run away, before Percy could come to his senses.

“Percy I’m so sorry please listen…” Mira said. I guess its option number 1 now.

He threw the cup of water into a nearby bush, and thankfully it didn’t break.

He then turned and hugged Mira, lifted his head and said, “Nico, protect her. Please. Don’t let anything happen to her. Promise me.”

I froze. I got a _very_ familiar feeling of déjà vu then. I also made Percy promise to keep Bianca safe.

He didn’t keep his promise.

I had all the right to deny his request, but I couldn’t deny the fact that I was madly in love with his sister.

So I said “I promise you.”

Percy looked at me with hope and joy in his sea-green eyes, before whispering things to Mira.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I caught on with a few words. Percy was acting like the overprotective brother that he is.

He gave her a kiss on the forehead, raised his voice and said, “I never saw you guys, ok?”

I sighed in relief. At least we could start this quest perfectly.

I heard Mira say, “Goodbye, brother.”

Percy’s back was turned to us, but I heard him say, “Goodbye, sister.”

My heart broke a little at that. I wish I had the chance to say goodbye to Bianca too.

But I didn’t. And that was one of my biggest regrets.

She was staring at Percy’s retreating figure, and I knew if I didn’t pull her away, she would continue to stand there until the sun rose.

So I grabbed her wrist lightly and led her out of the gates. I let her calm down for a bit first, then remembered that we didn’t know where to go. We were just stumbling along blindly.

“So, do you know where to go?” I asked.

She tilted her head slightly and stared off into the distance.

She thought for a while before she said, “Um…I think we should go to the Underworld first. After all, the helm _is_ located in the Underworld, and so maybe the thief hid the helm there.”

“But maybe the thief already took the helm _away_ from the Underworld.”

“Uh, well, that _is_ a possibility… Do you have any suspects for thievery?”

“Hermes.”

“Nico!”

“What?”

“Be serious!”

“I _am_ serious!”

“No you’re not!”

“Gods can steal other gods stuff!”

She glared at me, but from her frustrated look I guess that she didn’t have anything to say.

She huffed and said, “All right. But Hermes isn’t that kind of guy, is he?”

“You never know. Gods tend to be unpredictable.” I replied.

“But the Underworld _is_ easier to access, right? For you? So I think we should go to the Underworld first, just to make sure. And possibly find some tracks.” She said, and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose again. Oh gods of Olympus… I could’ve rejected her offer, but I didn’t.

Instead, I’m _agreeing_ to go along with this crazy plan of hers. She’s such an idiot…

“Now how do we get to the Underworld?” she asked. There were a lot of possible ways into the Underworld.

I could shadow-travel the two of us in, but that would be risky, as it would use up a lot of my power.

Another way was through the mortal entrance, but we needed drachmas and a distraction.

“Well, I _could_ tell Jules-Albert to drive us to the gates of the Underworld.” I suggested.

“Who is Jules-Albert?”

“A zombie chauffer my father gave to me as a sorry attempt of making up for all the time he spent away from me.” The look she gave me was a mixture of shock, horror, and sympathy.

Then she said, “Oh… Ok…So… Why aren’t you doing it?”

“Because we still need to get some drachmas for Charon _and_ get something for Cerberus.”

“Charon… the ferryman?”

“Yes.”

“Can’t you just tell him to give us a free pass? After all, you _are_ Hades’ son.”

I sighed softly at her innocence. If the world was everything like what her naïve little brain thought, then everything would be perfect.

“Mira, it doesn’t work like that. I may be able to convince him to let us through as the living, but he will still charge us drachmas.”

“That sucks.” She pouted. Did I mention that she has the cutest pouting face?

When I first saw her pout, it was back at school. That day, she had just finished Swimming, and I came back from Foreign Language.

It was Chemistry, and from the way she stormed into the classroom, wet blond hair still stuck on her face, towel still hung over her shoulder, and the fact that she practically _slammed_ her textbooks on the table right next to me implies that she was in a bad mood.

I waited for her to sit down before asking her what was wrong.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, “In Swimming, Mr. Johns said that he wanted to choose a captain for the Swimming Team from our class. I _hoped_ it would be me, because I got the best grades in the class. But instead, he chose _Jeff_! _Jeff Hellin_! Can you _believe it_?! And the guy even had the _gall_ to wave his ‘shiny Swimming team captain’ badge in front of _me_! And now he thinks he’s better than _me_! Well, _hell no_. I am _not_ going to let some _scum_ like him take _my_ rightful position as captain!”

I did nothing but listen to her rant, while occasionally nodding my head.

After that, she collapsed back on her chair and slouched in her seat. I didn’t hear her speak for a few minutes after that, and I turned to look at her.

I planned on teasing her, but instead, all was forgotten when I saw her pouting. Or sulking. Those two are similar, right?

Her bottom lip was sticking out, her nose was scrunched up, her eyes were narrowed into slits, arms crossed at the chest, and she wasn’t looking at me.

I might’ve stared for a while, because some boys started to say, “Ooh look, Nico’s staring at Mira!”

I immediately looked away from her and glared at the boys who said that. Then I turned back and continued watching her pout.

At that moment, I wanted nothing but to take her bottom lip in between my lips. I had no idea where that random thought came from, but I held onto it.

I reluctantly tore my eyes away from her and said, “Done calming down yet?”

She huffed and said, “Yeah.” I knew she was still furious, so I decided to not say anything for the rest of the lesson.

But I _did_ occasionally help her with some things she didn’t understand. And when she didn’t need my help, my mind would wander to the image of her pouting, and I would start fantasizing about kissing her.

“And for Cerberus?”

That question from her snapped me out of my daydream, and I thought for a while before answering, “We need to get something for him to play with, or to distract him.”

“He’s the three-headed dog, right?”

“Correct.”

“So should we get some dog toys? He _is_ a dog, after all.”

That actually seems like a smart idea. But how it would turn out, no one knows.

“I’m not sure if that’ll work, though.”

“Everything’s worth a try!” She said in a cheery manner.

“Oh Gods…” I muttered.

_Last_ time she said this was when we attempted to sneak into the staffroom so we could change the answers in our tests. Why? So we could get a high grade.

Actually, so that we would pass. And I’m clarifying it _right now_ , it was _not_ my idea.

It was Mira’s all along. Why I decided to come with her, I might never know.

“Come on! Call your chauffeur and let’s go to the nearest ATM machine for drachmas!”

See? Naïve, innocent, pure little mind who knows little of the world’s evil.

“There are _no_ ATM machines for drachmas.”

“So… We have to steal?”

Her eyes twinkled at the word ‘steal’. I didn’t know what was up with her, but the word ‘steal’ always fascinated her.

Maybe it’s because she stole something before, something dangerous.

“Yes.”

“But where? Olympus?”

I looked at her. I was not expecting her to suggest Olympus.

But why would she, anyways? Olympus is a highly guarded place, and if we went there, she might get the chance to steal other gods’ items, if she _really_ is a thief.

“I was thinking of Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium.” I said.

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know. But Percy did tell me a story of how he got an entire pouch of golden drachmas from a fountain there.”

“Sweet! Let’s go! We have an old lady to rob!”

I huffed lightly and decided to take her previous comment as a joke. But she _was_ getting suspicious, if I say so myself.

“I have to summon Jules-Albert first.” I said.

She asked, “Ok… So… Should I stand back?”

“If you want to.” I shrugged. I closed my eyes, and focused on Jules-Albert.

A slick black limo emerged from the ground.

“Whoa.” She said, staring in amazement.

I’m not sure what possessed me after that, but I decided to open the door for her.

To make it so that I wouldn’t seem too sincere, I smirked and said, “After you, my lady.” in a mocking manner.

She giggled, curtsied, and said, “Thanks.” before getting in.

I got in and said, “Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium.”

The car engine started, and she said, “How long is it to get to the Emporium?”

I looked at her and found out that she was _already_ playing with her own fingers.

Her ADHD is as serious as Percy’s. But what can I say? They’re siblings.

I thought for a while, and Jules-Albert said, from the driver’s seat, “About 3 hours if we’re driving normally. But if we’re not, then 1 and a half hours.”

“Not driving normally?” she asked.

I explained, “We can pass through other cars, because mortals can’t see us.”

“Can we drive past the speed limit?” she asked.

“Yes.” Jules-Albert replied.

I had a bad feeling about this.

Either she would climb to the front just to snatch the wheel from Jules-Albert, or she would stick her head out and let the wind blow in her face.

“Let’s go past the speed limit!” she squealed.

I let a small smile form on my face and wrapped an arm around her waist, before saying, “Calm down, we should get some rest. We need to face anything that comes for us, and we can’t do it if all we want to do is sleep.”

“Fine.” And she pouted again.

I would _never_ get bored of seeing her pout. She rested her head on my shoulders as the car started to go, and fell asleep in seconds.

I rested my chin on the side of her head on close my eyes, inhaling her scent once more.

That _perfect_ mixture of wild flowers and sea scent is enough to hypnotize me.

I closed my eyes, and fell asleep as well.


	9. The situation is petrifying

**Nico’s POV**

* * *

 

When consciousness returned, the faintest scent of sea salt and wild flowers hit me.

I moved my arms, but she wasn’t there. I felt no weight on my arm, and the scent was slowly fading.

I opened my eyes, and found that I was in the limo, all alone. Well, Jules-Albert may still be in here, but Mira wasn’t in the car.

I opened the door and nearly fell back down. My legs still felt like jelly.

I looked in front of me and found myself outside of a broken down store, ivy growing everywhere, stone statues littered on the floor.

I went over to the driver’s seat and found no one there. Strange, Jules-Albert _never_ leaves the car.

I also found a sign lying on the floor. I went closer and took a look at it. On it were the words ‘Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium’.

“Guess we’re here.” I muttered to myself. But where _is_ Mira? She wouldn’t just run off like that, would she?

Well, actually, she would. I found some footprints leading off into the forest nearby the Emporium, so I guessed she went in the forest for some random reason.

I was debating whether I should follow the tracks into the forest, but then I decided not to. What if she comes back and finds me missing? That would be horrible.

So I waited by the car.

Time flew by but there was still no sign of her. Now I was getting more and more anxious.

Where _is_ she?

Suddenly, whispers started filling my head. It sounded like it was coming from my pocket, where the dagger was.

Since there was no one nearby, I took the dagger out and unwrapped it. Now the voices were getting louder and louder. It was almost like the dagger was speaking to me. But daggers can’t speak, can they?

A sudden wave of nausea hit me, and my world went sideways. When I opened my eyes, I saw something, like a vision. In it, I saw a small girl, with brilliant aqua eyes and flowing blond hair.

She was…about 7 or 8, if I had to guess. She was looking up, jaw dropped in shock.

“You’re… you’re my mother?” she asked. Another figure stepped into view.

She also had blond hair, but her eyes were icy blue. She was wearing an ice blue gown, with an ice tiara on her head.

‘Khione.’ I recognized.

“Yes, my dear. I am your mother.” She said, with a sly, icy tone. I saw Mira smile before hugging her.

“Mother.” She sobbed. Khione returned the hug and knelt down so she was level with Mira.

“Don’t cry, my dear. You are a demigod. You possess power others don’t. You’re much more powerful than other.” Mira wiped her tears away, but she listened.

“Your father, is Poseidon, God of the Sea.” Mira gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

“My…My… _father_ … _Poseidon_ …” she stuttered.

“Yes, darling. Poseidon.” Khione nodded. “And now I have a task for you. Do you accept this task?”

Mira nodded furiously, and I wanted to reach out, to save her from Khione. But I couldn’t move. It was almost like I was tied up. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. I was useless.

Khione then said, “I need you to steal something. The Helm of Darkness. It belongs to Hades, God of the Underworld. After you steal it, I need you to throw it into a pit. A big pit. You can find that in the Underworld. Just throw it in and leave.”

Mira nodded and said, “I won’t let you down, mother. When can I start?”

The helm… thrown into Tartarus? This is big news. It would mean that either Tartarus wants the helm, or some other giant wants it.

Worst case scenario, Kronos wants it. But at least now I know where the helm could be.

Khione smiled and said, “Not now, darling. You need to wait. When you’re 14, steal it. But promise me. _Promise_ that you’ll never let anyone know that you’re a demigod, even your closest friends.”

“I won’t tell anyone, mom. I promise.”

“Good.” Khione nodded, and an evil smile spread on her face. “Take this bracelet. It will resist the pull of Tartarus, so you won’t fall in.”

A bracelet made of ice formed on her hands, and Mira took it. She slipped it on her wrist and carefully inspected it with awe.

The bracelet looked awfully familiar… I think I’ve actually seen Mira wear that bracelet before!

“I have to go now, darling. Take _absolute_ care out there, you might never know what happens. _Especially_ with that darned son of Hades.”

“Who, mom?”

“No one you need to know.”

Did she mean me? And how was Khione able to tell the future? Unless she went to the fates and bribed them to make this happen, or she consulted Apollo or the oracle for a glimpse of the future. Khione then disappeared in a shower of snow.

I watched as Mira put her hand on her heart and say, “I swear on the River Styx I’ll do what you told me to do, mom. I won’t let you down.”

Then I bolted upright, drenched in cold sweat. I gulped and thought about what I saw.

I looked back at the dagger, and found that I was griping it tightly. I loosened my hold on the hilt and wiped the sweat off my forehead.

There was still no sight of Jules-Albert and Mira.

I stood back up and looked around. There was no one aside from the dead leaves swirling around on the deserted floor, and the occasional twittering of blue and white birds.

Rachel Dare once told us about a mortal ‘app’ called Twitter. She was lucky enough to be able to use a phone without being tracked by monsters.

Leo and the Hephaestus cabin are working towards creating monster-proof devices for us to use, but so far their prototypes have all failed. And by failed I mean exploded.

But Percy and Jason were their usual test dummies, so I guess it isn’t _that_ much of a problem.

I decided to go in the Emporium to find her. If Mira really rushed in there, she would’ve at least left me a note. And besides, how bad could Aunty Em be? The most she could do is force me to eat some horrible food. But I think Piper has prepped me enough for that situation already.

But just to be cautious, I reminded myself to stay quiet in case something happens. I walked up to the door and looked at it.

Man, this place is _super_ run down. It probably won’t even pass the hygiene tests imposed by the government.

I gently pushed the door open and it swung open, then the hinges fell off and the entire glass door smashed into the ground with a deafening crash.

‘So much for keeping quiet.’ I thought. As I walked around the room, my senses started telling me that something was terribly wrong.

The tables were flipped, the chairs were broken, and there was debris of statues _everywhere_.

I looked at a wall and saw marks on the wall. I traced it gently with my fingers and realized that these marks weren’t supposed to be in an emporium.

These were sword marks, with some claw marks next to it. How do I know? Annabeth has been pestering us with knowledge.

Sometimes I’m quite grateful for what she did, but my brain is still recovering from all the talking she did. I took a step forwards and something underneath me cracked. It was a piece of statue.

I picked it up and looked at it, and thought, ‘These statues look _extremely_ lifelike…’

It was so real it could’ve came to life and I probably wouldn’t be scared. But there was something eerie about the face of the statue.

The man had his mouth open, eyes blown wide open. This isn’t what a garden gnome looks like. He looked like he was screaming, and I could somehow hear his screams echo in my head.

I picked up a couple more statues and inspected it, before realizing that everything was _very_ wrong.

These were people, actual _living_ people who were turned into statues. And only _one_ monster in the whole of Greek mythology could do that.

Medusa, the gorgon.

If Mira did run in here, then… I couldn’t bear to think of the consequences that would happen. But Jules-Albert, where in Tartarus is he? I walked towards an unusual opening in the wall that leads to a garden, and before I went outside, I heard muffled shouts.

I looked towards the source of the voice, and found out it came from a thick wall of ivy. I unsheathed my sword and walked slowly towards the wall.

I pulled the ivy down and it reviled Jules-Albert, gagged and tied to the wall. I immediately started hacking at the vines that was holding him in place, and as soon as he hit the ground, I approached him and demanded, “Where is Mira?”

“The girl?” Jules-Albert asked.

“I don’t know. I was following her in here and then my vision went dark. Someone was tying me up and a few minutes later, I heard screaming.”

“Something happened to her.” I muttered. “Go back to the car first, Jules-Albert.”

“Yes sir.” He said, before bowing hastily and scrambling off.

My heart started racing. What happened to her? This is Medusa’s lair, for Gods sake, _anything_ could happen!

She could be tortured, kidnapped, thrown into Tartarus, left for dead, and… No. I _refuse_ to think if the consequences. Mira _will_ survive. I know it.

I’ve walked around the entire restaurant already, so it leaves the little outdoor area for me to explore. I walked out and saw even _more_ statues staring at me, their faces all in shock.

A shiver went down my spine. This was somehow more horrifying then hearing the tortured souls of the Underworld scream in agony and pain.

As I went out into the clearing, I heard a muffled scream. All my senses immediately went on full alert and I panicked. I looked around frantically, hoping with everything I had that the scream wasn’t from Mira.

I heard another scream, this time it sounded like it was in pain. If I find _anyone_ hurting her, they’ll wish they were never born.

I started running. The screams were getting louder and more frequent.

“Please don’t let anything happen to her.” I silently pleaded the gods.

“Please don’t let her die.” I pleaded to my father.

Another scream filled the air, but this one made my blood freeze and I stopped in my tracks. I heard someone’s feet rustling on the leaves, so I ducked behind a big clay pot.

The footsteps were coming closer and closer. I squeezed my eyes shut and hoped that nothing bad would come my way. I looked right and opened my eyes just the smallest bit, and saw someone’s foot right next to me.

There was a dark green trench coat right behind the foot. I didn’t even dare breath. I heard hissing sounds coming from above, and every single drop of blood in my body froze. This is going to be bad.

“Ssssson of Hadesss… I’ve been exxxpecting you…” My eyes shut on their own accord as a cold hand reach down to my collar and pulled me up.

“Why won’t you look at me? It’sss ssso impolite to not look people in the eyesss…”

“In your dreams, Medusa.” I spat out.

“How rude… Look me in the eye, ssson of Hadesss.” She hissed.

I responded by kicking her in the gut and she released me with a rueful cry, my back hitting the floor. I turned on my stomach and started scrambling away, opening my eyes just a little.

I ran into a little clearing and found a navy blue heap laid on the floor, shuddering softly. I walked towards her, knelt down, and gently touched her shoulder.

She shrank away from me and curled up even more into the little ball she made herself. I looked back and didn’t see Medusa, so I decided to free her.

“Hey Mira, it’s me… You don’t need to be afraid… I’m here to get you out…” I soothed her. Her breathing started to slow down and so I turned her to face me.

I gasped once I saw what she looked like. There were multiple cuts on her face, her clothes were torn, she was gagged and tied with dirty rags. There were blood stains all over the rags, and tear tracks were visible on her cheeks.

“Oh gods… What did she do to you…” I whispered.

I started untying the gag on her, then her eyes widened and shut immediately. I knew what was coming.

I shut my eyes at the last possible second before I was lifted in the air and thrown away.

My back collided with something hard and my chest hit the floor. I looked at the dry leaves right underneath me and heard rustling coming towards me. Medusa picked me up again and threw me at another wall. Well, I think it was a wall.

“I knew ssshe would be a _perfect_ bait for you, ssson of Hadesss. Didn’t I tell you, Daughter of Possseidon?!” Medusa crackled.

Bait? Why did she want me? Because now it just seems like she wants to kill me just for fun.

“Now sssince our little _friend_ is in dispose now, why don’t you tell me where the helm isss? Come on, be a good girl.” Mira made muffled sounds of protest and wriggled around on the floor, which caused Medusa to sneer and bare her teeth.

“Oh, are you afraid that _he_ would tell his father? Oh, don’t you worry. I’ll take care of him now.” She walked towards me and pushed me down.

My head was spinning, but I still kept my eyes shut. I felt cold hands put my arms behind my back and something rough against my wrist, so I started shrugging her off.

Medusa hissed and pressed her foot to my back, keeping me on the floor, rendering me immobile.

I felt something on my ankles too, and I knew I was done for. After that, the gag on my mouth came on.

Of course, I tried kicking in random directions, hoping I would hit her, but it was kind of difficult to do when you can see anything.

“There. He won’t run away now. Now _tell me_ , WHERE ISSS THE HELM OF DARKNESSSS?” Medusa exploded.

I heard Mira whimper, and I wanted nothing more than to throw Medusa’s soul into the Fields of Punishment to torture her myself, to inflict 10 times that pain she inflicted on Mira.

I heard her sobs get louder, and Medusa roared, “WHERE ISSS IT?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” Mira wailed. There was a moment of silence, but was constantly interrupted by Mira’s sobs. So maybe it isn’t considered a moment of silence.

“Liar.” Medusa hissed. “LIAR!”

I heard a smack and something hitting the floor. I also heard Mira’s sobs of pain. It was too much for me to bear. I attempted to wrestle away from my ropes, but they were too tight. As the seconds ticked by, Mira started screaming.

“STOP! PLEASE! I DON’T KNOW WHERE IT IS!”

“LIAR! YOUR _MOTHER_ TOLD YOU TO SSSTEAL IT! YOU _SSSWEARED_ ON THE RIVER SSSTYX!”

“I DIDN’T! I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT! I DON’T EVEN _KNOW_ MY MOTHER! PLEASE! STOP!”

I gritted my teeth. So Mira _did_ (maybe) swear on the River Styx about stealing my father’s helm. She was getting more and more suspicious as time went by. I’m not sure if I can trust her now. But I know I have to save her, no matter what.

I summoned a skeleton behind me and muffled into the gag. Its bones clicked in confusion and I spoke into the gag again, lifting my hands as far as I could to let the skeleton see what it’s job was. It clicked it’s bones again, but this time it understood what I meant.

It started sawing against the ropes on my wrist and once it was free, I untied my gag and unbounded my ankles.

Then I whispered to the skeleton, “Do you have a shield? One to see Medusa’s reflection in? Or just _something_ that would allow me to see her reflection.”

The skeleton disappeared, then appeared again with a shield. It handed it to me, gently knocked it against my hand and I held it. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the shield. In the shield, I saw Mira laying in a heap, Medusa furiously beating her.

I saw a small knife her Medusa’s hand, and I realized Medusa had been cutting Mira. I gritted my teeth and made the skeleton disappear.

“LASSST CCHANCCE, GIRL. _WHERE. IS. THE. **HELM**_?!”

Mira sobbed, whispered, “It’s… It’s in Ta… Tartarus…” and hiccupped.

My eyes widened. So she _did_ know where the helm was.

Medusa smiled coyly and said in a sickly sweet voice, “Now then. That wasssn’t so hard, wasss it? Now the _boy_ has heard too much. I need to dispossse of him.”

“NO! Please. Don’t hurt him, please. Just…just take me instead.” Mira begged.

My heart felt like it was shattering. I looked at the shield and started sneaking towards her.

“Oh? You’re _protecting_ him? Do you even _know_ who he is?”

“Yes…Yes I do.”

“But do you really?” she said in a playful tone. I was so close to attacking Medusa from this distance.

But Mira, out of nowhere, said, “I know him well enough to know that he’s sneaking up behind you.”

What?! Why?! How did she—Well, too late. Medusa spun around and I immediately decapitated her, smashing my sword into her head. I threw the shield away and went to Mira.

“Mira, are you ok?”

“Is she gone?”

“Yes. I killed her.”

She slowly opened her eyes, and my heart broke. Her aqua eyes shone with tears, and the gag hung loosely on her neck.

“How did you know where the helm was?”

She didn’t reply. She stared at the floor for a long time, and I asked her again.

She took a deep breath then said, “I…I saw something, in the restaurant. In the drink dispenser. It was a note, saying that the helm was in a place called Tartarus. I don’t know where that is, though.”

“You _don’t know_ where Tartarus is.”

“No. Am I supposed to?”

“Yes and no.”

“Can you free me now? These rags hurt.”

I looked at her. A part of me didn’t believe that she found a note just randomly lying in a drink dispenser, but another part of me wanted to believe her.

Should I free her? If I do, then she’ll have a chance to run away, or worse, warn her ‘allies’ about her reveling the location of the helm to me.

And if I don’t, she’ll be furious with me. She won’t like the idea of me keeping her tied up, and I was not ready to face the wrath of Mira, Percy, and possibly Poseidon combined.

So I started to saw the rags off her wrists with my sword. Once her hands were free, she worked towards untying the loose gag from her neck while I untied the rags on her ankle.

“Thanks.” She said, while smiling at me. I lightly smile back and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

She wrapped her hands around my neck and turned to her face was at my neck. Every single drop of blood froze in my body as I gingerly hugged her back.

“So warm…” she muttered in my neck. I looked at her and melted. I can’t help it.

She nuzzled against my neck and mewled. If my blood wasn’t frozen enough already, it was now. I dipped my head and kissed her temple softly. She purred in delight and the pit of fire in my stomach lit up. I started rubbing her back softly and she sighed.

After a while, I said, “We should probably get out of here.”

She nodded, before adding, “I found the drachma fountain you were talking about.”

“Let’s get to it then.”

I stood first, and guided her up slowly. Once she could stand, I realized that she was still probably too weak to walk on her own.

So I threw her arm around my shoulder and put my arm around her waist. She leaned on me and we started hobbling towards the drachma fountain, thanks to the directions she was giving.

We finally reached the drachma fountain, and it was covered with thick vines. I had to put her down on the floor so I could hack away the vines, putting both hands on the hilt of my sword.

Once the vines were hacked away, I brushed them away, and the drachma fountain emerged.

“Wow…” she sighed.

“Let’s get this over with.” I said.

I produced a small pouch from my pocket and started putting golden drachmas in.

“I think that’s enough for us to get across.” I said.

When I looked back, her eyes were gleaming with gold. She was looking at the drachmas hungrily; in a way I’ve never seen her look before.

Why is she acting like this? Does she want to take it all?

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I…I’ve never seen so much money…” she breathed out.

Right. She was an orphan. She wouldn’t have seen so much money in the same place before, so all this was new to her.

If I could, I would give her all the riches of the Underworld, so she could buy whatever her heart desired.

“C’mon, let’s go. We have to get to our next destination.” I lifted her up and we began hobbling over to the car.

Before we went out the door, we heard hissing, coming from behind the counter.

Strange, there was nothing there when I checked it a while ago.

“What’s that hissing sound?” Mira asked.

“Probably just the gas leaking, I suppose. This _is_ an old restaurant, after all.” I replied.

She nodded her head and we started walking again. Before we even took a step forwards, Mira’s head suddenly shot backwards and she screamed in pain.

“MIRA!!” I shouted.

I turned back and saw Medusa’s sisters, Sthenno and Euryale.

“Sthenno and Euryale. I should’ve known.” I muttered.

“Hello, Ssson of Hadesss.” Sthenno started.

“We heard you defeated our sissster.” Euryale finished.

Gods, I’m gonna have trouble separating the two gorgons from each other.

“Let her go!” I said.

They were holding Mira by her braid, and I could imagine how much it hurt.

“Ow! Stop pulling my hair!” Mira protested, but they only gripped on tighter.

“You know where the Helm of Darkness is, don’t you, girl.” Euryale said.

“And you’re going to help us get it.” Sthenno finished.

“No! I’ll _never_ tell you!” Mira struggled. I had to watch while she wriggled around in the gorgon’s grasp, and I could do nothing to help.

“Finish him, Sssthenno,” Euryale said. “He’sss heard too much.”

Sthenno lunged towards me and I only dodged at the last possible second. Now I knew what happened here.

Percy, Grover and Annabeth must’ve been their last customers, and a fight broke out here, hence the sword and claw marks. I tripped over a chair that was laying down, and I didn’t have to look back to see that Euryale was advancing.

So I picked up a piece of statue, which was the closest throw-able thing for me, and hurled it at her.

She shouted in pain as the statue cut across her face, but I noticed the wound heal immediately. I forgot that they were immortal.

Screams came from the back room, where Sthenno had dragged Mira into. I stabbed my sword into Euryale’s stomach, and pushed her aside.

She stumbled and fell on a broken table, allowing me time to scamper up and run into the back room. Once I reached there, I immediately started twisting the handle.

“Fuck! It’s locked.” I whispered. Euryale was recovering from her wounds, and was coming for me. I kicked at the door desperately, praying that it would open.

 “Please work please work please _fucking_ work!” I shouted. I decided to pray to the gods, hoping that they would listen.

“Father, if you can hear me, please open the door. I know you won’t like it, but please. I _have_ to save her. Please. She may be a thief, but she is still important to me. I’m begging you, Father. Let me save her.”

After I said the last sentence, a piece of statue shattered on the door next to me. I turned back, and saw that Euryale had already stood back up, and was going for me.

I gave the door one last hard push, and the door opened. I stumbled in, and the door suddenly shut behind me, and I heard it lock.

I panicked, and started attempting to open the door. It was locked for good.

“FUCK!” I shouted, and kicked the door repeatedly.

“Nico…” I heard someone say weakly.

I turned towards the voice and found her lying on the floor, unable to stand. I went towards her, and held her.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt? What did she do to you?” I asked. I checked all the wounds on her cheeks and realized that none of them were deep.

“Thank the Gods…” I muttered. “Where’s Sthenno?” The gorgon was nowhere to be seen.

“I…She…She’s gone.” Mira stuttered. She then pointed towards a corner, and I saw an ice sculpture of a gorgon. “

You froze her?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“I…I just saw a chance.”

Hmm… That was still believable, but still, we had to leave before Sthenno breaks the ice surrounding her.

“C’mon, let’s go.” I hoisted her up and started looking for a back door. There was _no way_ that I was going back the way we came.

“There…” Mira pointed weakly. I looked towards the direction in which she was pointing, and sure, there was a backdoor. We hobbled towards the door and I kicked it open.

“Fresh air…” I breathed. The sun was shining in my eyes, and we continued to walk towards the car, where Jules-Albert was waiting.

“Sir, what happened?” Jules-Albert said, when we entered the car. Mira practically collapsed on me and was on the verge of passing out.

“None of your business. Let’s get to a safe place, now.” I ordered.

Jules-Albert turned back and started the engine, while I pulled out a bar of ambrosia and a flask of nectar out for Mira.

“There there, you’re all right. You’re safe now.” I soothed.

She was acting like a hurt puppy now, and my heart melted. While she chewed on the ambrosia I gave her, I got out some bandages and started tending her wounds.

From what I learnt from my time in camp, all the wounds had to be sanitized _before_ they were wrapped in bandages, because that would prevent infections.

“Do you… by any chance… have something for sanitizing?” I asked.

“Uh…” Mira said, “I don’t _think_ I do, but I might be wrong.”

I looked into her bag and rummaged everything out, but I couldn’t find anything for that purpose.

“Fucking hell, Jules-Albert, we’re gonna have to stop at a pharmacy.”

“Yes sir.” He replied.

Mira winced a little, and I asked, “Did I hurt you?”

“No, it’s just that I don’t really like swearing that much… But it’s alright, I’ll get used to it…” she explained.

I nodded to myself and kept a mental note to cut my swearing, although I know that won’t be possible. I am, according to Hazel, quite a ‘potty-mouth’.

She started moving a little, so I looked down at her.

“Hmm?” I hummed. She mumbled something I couldn’t understand before she turned on her side and fell asleep on my lap.

I put my hand gently on her waist and let her sleep. After all, she _was_ the one who was tortured by gorgons.

I let my head hit the back and closed my eyes. This was going to be a tough journey…


	10. Confessions

**Mira’s POV**

* * *

 

I woke up to a smell of something sour, sweet, but strangely fresh.

The last thing I remembered was chewing on the ambrosia. I don’t really know what it tastes like, to be honest.

Yes, yes, you might say that I’ve eaten it already, maybe a couple of hours ago, I don’t know? But the ambrosia tasted different with every bite.

It tasted delicious though, honestly. The first bite tasted of something doughy and sweet, and I think it was the welcome chocolate chip cookies they give at the orphanage whenever someone new comes in.

The new person gets the most, of course, and we have to share the rest. It wasn’t very often that the orphanage has new members, so we rarely had cookies. But it was absolutely amazing.

The second bite, also my last bite, by the way, tasted sweet and sour, and was somehow like the scent that filled the air now. It seemed familiar, but I just couldn’t put my hand on where I’ve tasted it before. Or maybe smelt.

I lifted my head and a terrible headache hit me. I groaned immediately, only for the mattress to move.

I instantly froze. Mattresses can’t move, right?

For that moment, I was afraid that I was back in Medusa’s lair. My eyes threatened to shut, but then I felt something snake around my waist as something heavy hit my left shoulder.

I allowed my eyes to dart a little bit to the left, and caught the sight some something slick and black. I realized that I hadn’t been sleeping on a mattress; I had been sleeping on _him_.

But since he already wrapped me around in a cocoon, I couldn’t resist but push in a tiny bit. He was just so… warm. And cuddly. Like a teddy bear.

_Don’t_ tell him I said that, he would kill me. Literally.

We were sitting on the couch anyways. It took me a while to gain memory on what happened, and where we were now.

He snuggled up closer to me, and I rolled my head back so it rested at his shoulder.

“Mornin’ Starshine…” he muttered.

It took about a few seconds before I registered what he said, and I replied with “Morning, Death Boy.”

He nuzzled his head against my neck, and I unconsciously let out a purr. He propped his chin on my shoulder and looked at me.

“Enjoying your time here?” he whispered.

“Can I get a 5-star rating on my stay?” I joked.

He huffed before laying back down, bringing me along. His hands started moving at the plane of my stomach, I couldn’t quite distinguish whether I liked it or not, but it just felt good.

“Nico…” I softly moaned.

He hummed into my neck and his arms tightened around my waist.

“Mmm… Hey… Too tight…” I whispered. He nodded silently and released his hold on me.

“Sir, we’re here.” A voice said.

It _also_ took me a while to realise that it was Jules-Albert, the zombie chauffer. I _totally_ forgot about his existence.

Nico didn’t speak nor move, so Jules-Albert opened the little hatch that allowed him to look at us.

“Sir-” he began. He paused after saying that, turned back and shut the hatch.

“Knew it was enough to shut him out.” Nico said triumphantly.

I gently hit his ribs a little and he moaned in protest. He was about to hit me back but I said, “C’mon, my wounds still hurt.”

At this, he shot up immediately and started looking at my wounds, like I was a hurt puppy or something.

“Ah fuck, infections.”

I looked down and my eyes widened. The blood was dried already, but on some of the larger wounds there was some patches of yellow on the dried blood, threatening to ooze out.

Did I mention that there was redness around the cuts? Tends to happen when you have infected wounds. Not that I’m an expert on infected wounds or something, I mean, how can one be an expert on that? (Chuckles nervously)

Ok. Honestly, I’ve gotten my fair share of wounds. _Not_ including now.

Have you _ever_ tried gymnastics at the orphanage? (Yes they had gymnastic classes. Emphasize on _had_ )

The mean old ladies there would punish you if you didn’t perform the move perfectly, and they would whip you with a stick or just punish you in general.

Geez, once I fell off the balance beam and I got sent to my room _without_ dinner! How unfair is _that_?!

But that wasn’t the worst one.

Once a kid who was terribly afraid of heights got forced to walk the tightrope, and he nearly fainted from fear. And had a heart attack. I think he died? Not sure.

I heard from random gossips that the ladies scared him by telling him how high it was, and what would happen if he fell.

Yeah, they got sued for child abuse. (Hooray!)

The gymnastics still stuck with me, so it would explain why I was so flexible.

Also the fencing classes back at primary school were horrendous. There was no safety equipment available, and so if someone hit you with a sword, you would get a cut.

And there was no sanitizing alcohol to tend the wound immediately.

So when I first joined, you can guess what happened. Almost all the wounds were infected.

Why? I don’t think they clean the equipment, except to get the blood off. (Eww!)

The reason why I didn’t quit immediately was because I needed my report card to look good, or else I would be known as a free rider without any “contribution to the school”. (Ugh…)

It was still available in secondary, but I quit right after primary, which meant I had 5 years of fencing/sword fighting class.

So _that_ would also explain why I felt at home with a sword, because you were _literally_ fighting for your lives there.

Anyways, he went and touched one of the relatively smaller infected wounds, and I winced.

“Ow… Where are we?”

“The pharmacy, if I’m correct.”

I looked out the window and saw a big red sign which said ‘Pharmacy’. Next to the Pharmacy sign was another giant sign that said ‘Shopping Mall’.

“Well, unless there’s a hotel or something called ‘Pharmacy’, we’re at the right place.”

“Let’s go in then, we have to get something for sanitizing your wounds. And frankly I don’t know a single thing about this, so you’re gonna have to help me.”

I glared at him after he said that. Was he serious?! I couldn’t just walk into the mall with ripped up jeans and shirt with dried up blood!

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, obviously confused. His head tilted slightly, which was kind of cute, like a dog.

I wish my head tilted like that when I got confused.

“You _expect_ me to walk into the mall with people _watching_ , wearing ripped jeans and shirt, which also, coincidently, has dried _blood_ on it?”

“I think the mist would cover it up… Right?”

“No! Why would the mist cover something like this up? Can’t I just stay in the car?” “No, I told you I don’t know which sanitizing thing is the correct one! What if I end up buying bleach and neither of us know and you die?!”

“Then stay _off_ of the ones labelled bleach! And we _don’t_ drink bleach! Nor sanitizing alcohol! And I _know_ you can read, you’ve been at school!”

“Yes well that was an example. What I’m _trying_ to say is that I don’t want to be the cause of your death, ok?” His voice had risen to a point where it was close to yelling.

His eyes showed emotions of fear, anger, and sorrow. Why sorrow was in there, I may never know.

“I’m sorry for shouting at you.” He said almost immediately, and sat back down. He had a tendency to stand up whenever he got mad.

I sighed softly. I hated seeing him sad. His head was hanging, he wasn’t looking at me, and he was twisting his skull ring, a sign that he was nervous.

“Nico, I’ll go in, but on one condition. You’ll have to get new clothes for me first. Preferably in navy blue. Or ice blue. And it has to be good looking. And flexible enough so I can run fast in it. And comfortable. And… uh… with pockets deep enough so I can put _Glacier_ in. And that’s all.”

“First of all, I’m not gonna be able to remember _everything_ you just said, and second, what’s _Glacier_?”

“Ok. _First_ of all, in simplified words, get me something decent to wear. _Second_ of all, _Glacier_ is my sword. I’m ashamed that you didn’t know about this!”

He muttered something like “Brat.”

I instantly leaned forward right up to his face, ignoring all the pain that sudden motion caused me, and said, “ _What_ did I just hear? Hmm? Did you just say _brat_?”

“Yes, so?”

“Brat.”

“Stop saying your own name.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.” he said, with that ever annoying smirk on his face.

I pushed his cheek and said, “Go, buy me some clothes.”

“I’m not your slave, you know. Have some manners.” He said, while rolling his eyes.

“Fine. _Pleeeeaaassseeeee._ ”

“That’s better, _Elsa_.”

I nearly decapitated him at that moment. He _knows_ I hate Frozen! And he’s still calling me Elsa!

Gods, one of these days I’m gonna kill him. (Sorry for all those who like Frozen. Personal opinion.) Annoying jerk.

He smirked one last time and exited the car, and I waited. I stayed still for about 5 seconds before I started messing around with the car.

I didn’t mess with Jules-Albert though; I was afraid he was gonna ask what the hell just happened.

I found out that there were some hidden buttons on the car, and when I pressed the first button, a mini bar popped out.

How the limo could fit the mini bar, I never knew. I assumed it was one of Hephaestus’ creations.

After I devoured some food from the mini bar (I was hungry! How can you _not_ be hungry after a near-death experience with a gorgon?), I pressed another button. A speaker popped out along with a mini DJ station.

How is this car fitting all of this? But then again, who am I to ask questions? I’m living in a world as weird as this.

I played with the DJ station until I was bored (and that was like, after a minute or so), and pressed another button.

This one opened up a full panel with slick black buttons, and I know what you’ll say, _Don’t_ press any of the buttons, it could be a trap, but me being me, I didn’t listen. I started from the top left button, and pressed all of them.

Multiple things popped out, including _another_ fridge (that was filled with cold beer that I don’t drink), a fully filled wardrobe, (Of _black_ dresses and suits [wow I would like to see Nico wear the suit. If I did, I would take a picture and give it to everyone.]) a wooden desk, a medical first aid kit, a floor hatch, a wine cellar, (Don’t ask me why) a basket filled with red fruit, (Hey, they smell like the scent earlier! Could it have been them releasing the smell?) and- Wait. _Medical kit_?!

I scrambled over and grabbed the medical kit before it vanished. I opened it, and inside was a supply of bandages, alcohol for sanitizing, ambrosia, nectar, cotton balls, and Apollo’s cream for anti-scar. (On the cover was a picture of who I assume to be Apollo [due to the shininess around him] wearing shorts and a button up shirt, hold up the jar of cream on the beach, right next to the sea, and I think I saw dad in there [at least who I _think_ would be my dad] waving his trident. [Photobomb])

I assume Apollo made Hephaestus add that in the med kit when he built it. _I guess_. Or Apollo could’ve packed the med kit and given it to Hephaestus.

I was rummaging through the med kit, while everything else was refolding itself back into the car, and the door opened.

“There. I got you some clothes. Happy?”

I looked at the open door, and found out that he was holding a pile of clothes, sticking them right in my face.

“I had to walk in the _women’s_ aisle for all this. The people were looking at me funny.”

“Maybe they think you’re a girl in disguise.”

“Of course not! Why would they?”

“Look what I found, in the time that you were gone.”

He stuck his head in, and his jaw dropped.

“Where did you find that?”

“I don’t know; I was randomly pressing buttons then it appeared.”

“Well that saves us money and time.” Strange, he didn’t comment on the me finding random buttons on his limo.

“Yeah. Now let me see what you got.”

He handed the clothes to me and I looked at them. A navy blue tank-top, blue hoodie jacket, and ice blue denim shorts.

“Your boots looked like it was in good condition, so I didn’t buy new ones.”

“Yeah. Thanks. Now get out of the car so I can change.”

“Ugh, fine, bossy.” He muttered. He closed the door and dragged Jules-Albert off the car as well.

Thank Gods the windows had a shade of black on it, people couldn’t just walk past and see me changing. I saw Nico standing outside, hands in his pocket, waiting for me to change.

I threw off my old clothes, wincing once in a while by the pain the wounds caused me. Surprisingly, all the clothes fit me perfectly, and even had some space to spare. That rarely happened. They were often too tight.

Once I was done, I opened that door, signalling that I was done.

“What do we do with the old ones?” I asked. He didn’t seem to know the answer, so I said, “Can you dump them in the bin outside?”

He rolled his eyes but got my clothes and went outside. While he was dumping my blood-stained clothes, Jules-Albert came back and started the car. I _was_ kind of tempted to see his reaction if we left without him. But then again, this _is_ his car and _his_ chauffer.

When he came back, I couldn’t help but tease him.

“Thanks, _peasant_.”

Surprisingly, he didn’t reply. He only rolled his eyes.

“Will you stop rolling your eyes? It’s getting annoying.”

He, _again_ , rolled his eyes but said, “No, your highness.”

I lightly punched him in the arm, and he simply smiled. He got in the car, closed the door, took the med kit away from me, got the alcohol and the cotton, and said, “Give me your leg.”

“Wha-” It took me a few seconds to realize what he meant. _He_ was going to tend my wounds. Wow. That was more gentlemen then I thought he could be.

So I plopped my leg down on his lap and allowed my head to roll back against the window.

“Jules-Albert, start the car. Go to another mall.” He commanded.

“This is gonna hurt, just so you know.” He warned.

“Yeah, I know.” I replied softly. He uncapped the alcohol, poured a little on the cotton, and put it on my wound.

I winced and hissed immediately, and my leg would’ve shot back if he didn’t grab my leg and held it tightly. The longer he did it, the more intense the pain became.

The pain of the alcohol stinging at my open wounds with fresh blood leaking out from the sudden movements, and his fingernails digging into my skin, trying to hold me in place.

I couldn’t take the pain anymore. It was even more intense than the pain Medusa caused me. Tears sprouted from my eyes as I wailed, “STOP! PLEASE! STOP IT!”

He looked at me, and I swore his eyes widened.

“Just… Just a couple more to go…”

“NO! PLEASE! NO! STOP!”

“P…Pl…Plea…Please don’t c…cry…” he stuttered.

“It’s too painful…” I whispered, while choking on my own tears.

“It w…won’t hurt after a while… It’ll be fine… Just… Just hold on…”

I knew he was trying his best not to break down, because he once told me that he couldn’t stand girls crying, as he wouldn’t know what to do.

He came forward and held me in his embrace, and I snuggled in closely. Just as I was about to close my eyes and drift off, a sudden sting of pain jolted me up.

By instinct, my nails dug into his jacket, and I felt his muscles stiffen, before relaxing.

“It’ll be fine, just a few more minutes…” he muttered into my neck.

The pain increased, and after a while my nails couldn’t go any deeper, my fingers were getting tired, and so I used an alternative.

When the pain came again, I bit into his shoulder. Hard.

He jolted and looked at me, before relaxing and continuing. How can a person stay _so_ calm with someone biting them? When he was finally done, he gently removed my teeth from his jacket.

“There, there. All done.”

He cradled me in his arms, and I softly asked, “So where to now?”

“Don’t know. What do _you_ think?”

“Well, the helm is in a place called Tartarus, and we still need something for Cerberus, right?”

“Correct.”

“And why didn’t we go and buy pet supplies in the previous mall?” “There was no pet store there. I looked.”

“Oh. Dam.”

“Go and rest if you want to, I’ll wake you up when we get to another mall. Shouldn’t be too far away.” I nodded, and fell asleep.

In my dream, I saw something. I saw a black helmet on the pedestal, and I could only assume that it was the Helm of Darkness. My surroundings were red, and I didn’t like that place _at all_.

Wherever I was, I would like to get the hell out of there, and fast. So by instinct, I reached for the helm.

Then a voice behind me said, “Aren’t you afraid that the helm is cursed? I mean, it _would_ be better for me to take it, considering that I’m a child of Hades.”

I spun around and found Nico, standing there behind me. But his features were so blurry, I could only make out his form.

“Nah, it’ll be fine. How bad could it be?” I asked.

I reached for it, and a sharp sting of pain erupted in my back. The pain increased for a while, until it finally stopped. I looked down, and found the tip of a small black dagger protruding out of my stomach.

I turned my head back, and found that _Nico_ was holding the dagger. My eyes widened in shock, as I asked a simple, “Why?”

He didn’t respond. Now that we were in close proximity, I could see that look in his eyes. He was determined, but his eyes were quivering slightly in fear, anger, and sorrow.

“You…You said you didn’t want to be the cause of my death… Why are you-” I attempted asking.

But before I finished my sentence, he pulled the dagger back out, and I collapsed on the floor. I watched as my own blood poured out, my vision blurred, and my head was spinning.

I made out the deep, maniacal laughing of someone that _clearly_ wasn’t Nico (at least, from what I _think_ ), before my world went dark. I jolted upright, drenched in cold sweat.

I blinked quickly and made out where I was now. I wasn’t in a red place, and there was no helm in front of me. I was in a moving limo with music softly playing from the radio.

The only thing that remained constant was that he was there. But instead of being behind me, he was in front of me, looking at me with a quizzed expression.

“What’s wrong, Mira?” he asked. I was panting heavily, still contemplating whether the dream was real or not.

“N…Nothing…” I stammered.

“You sure? You look shaken.”

“I…I’m fine…”

“Really? You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“Yeah, I know, but… I just need some time to process what happened.”

“Alright. I’ll wait until you calm down.”

“Ok. Thanks.”

And he left it at that. I thought about what just happened. Was that a vision, or just a nightmare? I didn’t know. So I decided to ask him something.

“Nico?”

“Yes?”

“Can someone… get a glimpse of the future by dreams?”

He didn’t reply for a while, until he said, “Excluding the Oracle, I’ve heard that only children of Apollo have the ability to see that future, but some other demigods might have it sometimes. Why are you asking?”

“Nothing. Just curious.”

“Mira…”

“I know, I know, I could tell you everything any time, but I’m still not ready.”

He nodded slowing before turning his back to me and faced the window. I knew I had to tell him sooner or later, because judging by his personality, he’ll remember this for a very long time and he won’t let it drop until he got everything he needed to know.

So I took a deep breath and spoke. “I saw you. In the dream.”

His head turned towards me, and his silence was proof that he wanted me to keep going.

“We were in a place that was red. I don’t know where it is though. In front of me was the helm. We exchanged a few words then I reached to get the helm. Then…”

I paused. I didn’t want to continue, but I had too.

“Then what?” he asked. I shuddered slightly, and he scooted over and held me tight.

“You stabbed me. In the back.” I finished, after taking another deep breath. I felt him stiffen a bit, and he said, in a whisper, “What did I stab you with?”

“I’m not sure, but I think it was a small black dagger. I could be wrong though.”

“Did it look like this?” he asked. He held out a small parcel wrapped in cloth, and when he unravelled it, it was the same small dagger I saw in the dream.

“How-” I started. All the blood in my body froze as I backed away slightly from him. I was afraid that he would kill me now, if what I saw was true.

“Where did you get that?” I asked. I got a very familiar feeling of déjà vu. When did I ask this before?

He put the dagger away and said, “My Father gave it to me, back at Camp. In a dream. He told me that you were the thief, and that I should kill you before we reach the helm.”

“Then will you do it? Will you kill me?” I asked. If he wanted to kill me, then I would let him do it now. Finish what his Father wanted him to do.

“No.” he said gravely. “I would never. I swear on the River Styx.”

I knew that swearing on the River Styx was the highest and most dangerous way a person could swear on, and there would be consequences if the person broke the oath.

My shoulders relaxed and I sighed.

“Did you _really_ think that I would kill you?” he asked, a smirk threatening to form on his lips.

“Yes.” I said. He smiled and tucked me in.

“Then you’re mistaken.”

“Are we there yet?” I asked impatiently, hoping to change the subject.

He chuckled and opened the hatch to Jules-Albert.

“Are we there yet?” he asked.

“The nearest pet store is approximately 5 minutes away, sir.” Jules-Albert replied.

Nico closed the hatch and turned to me, holding me tightly and kissing my temple.

I curled into him and closed my eyes. I didn’t feel like sleeping, but I wanted to rest my eyes.

I felt safe now, knowing that the dream I had was just a dream, and not reality.

Although, there might also be a chance, but that chance was very slim.

After all, he _did_ swear on the River Styx…


	11. "Pet store"

**Nico’s POV**

* * *

 

“Then will you do it? Will you kill me?”

Those words echoed in my head, her scared and sad expression re-appearing in my head. She was curled up against me, occasionally nuzzling her head against my neck.

Her eyes were closed, and she seemed so peaceful like this.

“I swear on the River Styx.”

What will happen if I break this vow? I know that Styx would punish those who broke their vows, but I never knew how.

I _really_ hope I wouldn’t have to break this vow.

I rarely swore on the River Styx, and now that I have, I intend to keep this vow.

“Sir, we’re here.”

Jules-Albert’s voice broke my train of thought, and I looked out the window. We were in the carpark of a huge mall, and I was _fairly_ certain that we would find at _least_ one pet shop in here.

I shook Mira, and her eyes flew open.

“Huh?” she asked, mumbling a bit.

“We’re at the mall. Wanna come along?”

She yawned and stretched, before sitting up while wincing a little, and said, “Of course! Why not? I need a walk anyways.”

I smiled as I opened the door and hoisted her out. She nearly fell down once she stepped out of the car.

I huffed lightly, earning a little glare from her. She leaned on me as she remembered how to walk again, and I watched her every step.

“Ok, you can stop staring at me now.” She said, after she felt more natural walking on her own.

“Alright then. Let’s go.”

I took her hand and started walking. Her hand froze at first, before I felt her fingers curl against mine.

Her head leaned on my shoulder, and I whispered, “Now is probably a good time to tell you that you should control your powers.”

“But I thought mortals couldn’t see through the Mist?”

“Yes they can’t, but monsters might see it and there’s no telling what the Mist would do to cover it up.”

“True.” She said, as she withdrew her hand.

I looked at her with a quizzed expression, and she said quietly, “If we don’t touch, then there wouldn’t be a risk that I would freeze you.”

She made a good point. But I really craved her touch, and I would do anything to feel it. As we entered the mall, there was a large Frozen movie poster on the wall next the door.

I nudged her to get her attention, and when she looked, annoyance clouded her face as she dragged me away. When my eyes got to Elsa’s hand, I realized something.

She was wearing gloves! That’s when I remembered what happened in the movie.

Oh yes, I watched it. Not a fan.

The Seven dragged me in the cinema with them to watch Frozen. Percy, Jason and Leo came out of the cinema singing ‘Let it go’.

They kept singing it for days until Annabeth got annoyed and threatened to skin the person who sang any Frozen songs.

Percy _very_ nearly got skinned alive.

If I wanted to hole her hand, I would need gloves. Stupid idea, I know.

The ice might still form even if she wore gloves, and she could always freeze the gloves.

But then again, I still had to try.

While she was looking for a pet store, I concentrated on finding a clothes store. Gloves would be easy to find, wouldn’t it?

Well, guess what? They weren’t.

They were so fucking difficult to find that I couldn’t even find a _single_ pair after walking through half of the mall.

Mira gently nudged me with her elbow and said, “Look, pet store.”

I looked in the direction she was pointing in, and sure enough, there was a pet store.

We walked over to the pet store, and I noticed a clothes store next to it. I simply peeked into the store, and found a gloves inside.

Now that I’ve located the gloves, how am I going to buy them without making her feel suspicious?

I tapped her shoulder and said, “Go inside the store and pick whatever you want. I’ve got to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh, ok. See you later!” she replied, while turning and walking inside the pet store.

I went inside the clothes store and began to pick a pair of gloves for her.

Purple? No… It’s too ugly. Black? I mean, that’s a good colour, but… I’ll put that into consideration.

Red? No, she hates red. Blue? She likes blue, but it doesn’t go well with what she’s wearing.

After 5 minutes or so, I decided to go with the black gloves. I picked a pair that would suit her just fine, paid for it and walked back to the pet store.

Strange, there was no one inside.

I looked around and noticed that there was something strange about the store. People didn’t seem to notice that there was a pet store right there, and walked right past it.

Aside from that, Mira was nowhere to be found.

As I walked near the counter, a fat lady in a denim dress came forwards, and on the counter was a Chihuahua, who was glaring at me and growling.

“Sonny, don’t growl at strangers. Be nice to them.” The women spoke.

‘Sonny. What a weird name.’ I thought.

Her eyes were strange, and there was something in her mouth that didn’t seem like it belonged there.

She looked at me and said, “Feel free to walk around the store and find what you like! It isn’t every day that I get customers here.”

The woman was suspicious, I must say, but I turned my back and began looking around.

The women hovered near me and said, “What are you looking for, little boy?”

She had no idea how much I wanted to slap her for that comment.

But I remained calm and said, “Dog toys.”

“Oh, dog toys? There’s a supply of them in the back room, if you want. Go ahead and pick whichever one you like!”

I nodded silently and started towards the back room. I opened the door and found that it was pitch black, but thank gods I could see perfectly in the dark.

I found that there were no dog toys in there, just an occasional bug running past.

I started to turn back and say, “There are no toys in the-” and paused.

The woman was changing.

Her eyes were sideways slits in bright yellow, the lower half of her body was turning in to a snake’s tail, and her skin was bright green and scaly.

The blood in my body froze.

She hissed at me, and I saw a forked tongue and fanged teeth inside her mouth.

Oh my Gods. Please don’t-

I looked at the Chihuahua that was next to her. It was changed too.

It now had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, a blood-caked mane, and a _very_ long snake headed tail.

Shit. It was the Chimera. And the woman was Echidna.

No wonder she calls him Sonny. It was _actually_ her son.

I unsheathed my sword and braced myself for combat. The Chimera lunged at me, and I stepped to the side, avoiding the blow.

A muffled scream came from the back, and I realized the Chimera wasn’t occupied with me.

It was occupied with something else.

I didn’t have time to think about what it was so interested in, because Echidna started attacking me.

She clawed and lunged at me, but luckily I ducked almost all of them, only getting a few cuts here and there.

I summoned a small army of skeletons and commanded them to attack Echidna.

At the same time, the Chimera appeared from the dark room, with ice frozen in its blood-caked mane.

‘Mira.’ I thought. I forgot she was in there.

I ran into the room, and found her wielding her sword, _Glacier_ , I think, and was walking out.

“Nico! Are you alright?” she exclaimed.

“Yeah. You?” I asked.

“I’m fine. Let’s go kick some monster butt.” She said, with determination gleaming in her eyes.

I nodded and readied myself.

Echidna and Chimera were side by side now, growling and hissing at us.

“I’ll take the fat lady, you take the Chihuahua.” She said.

I nodded again, and we charged.

The Chimera was difficult to take down, and while Mira was fighting Echidna, something was clicking in my mind, although I didn’t know what it was.

“Nico!” I heard a shrill shout coming from behind the shelves.

The Chimera was still falling over jars, so I went to take a look.

Echidna was holding Mira by her neck, and hissed “It would be such a wonderful prize, to have the daughter of Poseidon _and_ Khione here, as well as the son of Hades.”

I ran towards Echidna, stabbing my sword in her side. Mira fell to the ground, clutching her neck and coughing violently.

She simply laughed.

“Don’t you know, son of Hades, that this girl will eventually betray you? Don’t you know who she is?”

“Don’t believe her, Nico!” Mira shouted.

My mind was racing. I couldn’t believe it, but I was trusting the monsters.

“Nico, look at me. I have _no_ idea whatsoever about what they’re talking about, but I _know_ , for _sure,_ that I will never betray you. Please. Trust me.”

I looked at her.

She would never admit it, but she was pleading silently with her eyes. She was desperate. Truly desperate.

“Stop trying to fool him, Daughter of Khione, you will be nothing but the same as your mother. You will aid us in defeating Camp Half-Blood, as well as Olympus. You will slay your own blood, and take the throne for yourself.” Echidna said.

“Nico…”

Her pleads were nothing but soft whispers now.

I closed my eyes and drove my sword into Echidna’s chest, only to be thrown into the Chimera, who has decided to crush all the jars with his jaws.

Mira ran towards me, but Echidna held her by her arms, rendering her immobile.

I saw the wounds on Echidna disappear, and it suddenly clicked in me.

She was immortal.

The next thing I knew, there was a sharp pain in my upper arm. I shouted in pain and looked towards the arm.

The snake tail of the Chimera was currently sinking its fangs into my flesh, erecting its poison in my veins.

As soon as its fangs went out, my head felt faint. I collapsed on the floor as the world started to spin.

My vision was getting blurry, and the noises were getting blocked out.

I closed my eyes as a cold sensation rushed past my skin, my clothes started to feel wet, and I lost consciousness.


End file.
